Play sports, learn a language, applaud the caregivers ... There is no shortage of advice for dealing with confinement. In this period when physical interactions must be limited to the strict minimum, a certain number of people have also turned to dating applications.
Once, which has 3 million users in France, has recorded a 35% increase in use since the French government implemented containment measures to combat the progression of the coronavirus. Under these conditions, no question of meeting over a drink or a coffee. But users spend more time chatting and take the opportunity to get to know each other better.
" We have noticed that conversations last longer , 10-30% compared to February in Europe, " said a Tinder spokesperson. This application has also experienced an increase in activity in all countries where containment has been implemented. The lack of perspective regarding a possible meeting does not seem to discourage users. No drop in attendance has been observed in Italy, whose residents have been staying at home for almost three weeks.
To encourage their users to be patient and not to defy the rules of social distancing necessary for the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, most dating applications now display prevention messages. " Save lives, Stay at home ," advises Once at the launch. The application has also implemented a feature that allows you to chat on video.
New features to retain users
Same policy at Tinder, which enjoins its users to " stick to strictly digital meetings for the moment ". In addition, the application now offers free of charge to all its users, a feature usually reserved for subscribers, which allows profiles to be explored in cities other than its own.
Other applications, on the other hand, do not take advantage of containment measures at all. This is particularly the case of Happn, who offers two people who have crossed paths to meet. A concept which has attracted 5 million French people, but which is clearly less attractive when the possibilities of traveling outside the home are limited. " In countries like Italy, there was a drop in connections when government announcements were made ," said the app. However, she noticed a “ beginning of resumption of the connections ” thereafter, without specifying however if they exceeded the usual level.
" A number of our users have expressed their concern to us, because the number of people they meet every day on the application was starting to drop seriously, " explains Happn CEO Didier Rappaport. To retain them, Happn therefore decided to widen its search radius. Its users will now be able to contact profiles up to 90 kilometers away. Another way of not letting them get tired while waiting for the lifting of the containment, which could take hold over time.
