Hyderabad reigns supreme in video dating

Hyderabad: The year of 2021 was all about going online and the dating segment was not left behind. Video dating saw an increase in the last one year and Hyderabad reigned supreme as the chattiest video dating city followed by Chennai and Bengaluru. According to Tinder’s Year in Swipe 2021, many GenZ are enjoying both […]

Hyderabad: The year of 2021 was all about going online and the dating segment was not left behind. Video dating saw an increase in the last one year and Hyderabad reigned supreme as the chattiest video dating city followed by Chennai and Bengaluru. According to Tinder’s Year in Swipe 2021, many GenZ are enjoying both virtual meet-cutes and post-vaccination in real life dates.

“Video dates have turned into a first date staple for singletons with mentions of ‘video call’ in Tinder bios growing by 52 per cent globally. A significant number of Indians took to video dating on Tinder where Hyderabad reigned supreme as the chattiest video dating city in India, followed closely by Chennai and Bengaluru,” Tinder’s Global Video chatting index in 2021 said.

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Yet, Gen Z was also looking to make a connection with new people close to them for real life hangouts with ‘nearby’ and ‘close by’ both increasing by 20 per cent in Tinder bios globally, showing that the IRL world isn’t going out of fashion anytime soon when it comes to dating.

In terms of emojis used in Tinder bios, the side eye emoji saw a 40 per cent increase in usage in Tinder bios globally this year. Meanwhile, Indian GenZ used the black heart and smiling emojis the most.

First date ideas ranged from cozy to outdoorsy

First date drinks are officially outdated! In 2021, Tinder found that first dates have become more about activities than icebreakers. “Daters are picking more interesting, unique first date activities that help them really get to know each other. Tinder saw a 2X increase in mentions of ‘long walks’ in bios and requests for date activities from cycling to taking a pottery class in bios,” the release said.

Being vaxxed became a (dating) flex

In a year when getting vaxxed was the first thing on the date prep checklist, sharing the post-vaccine lifestyle on their Tinder bios made Gen Z feel safer to meet someone. As vaccination drives accelerated locally between February and August 2021, mentions of ‘Vaccinated’ in bios in India grew by 40x as members advocated for vaccine status as a dating essential.