14 Jun Tinder and the UK government join forces
A Tinder and UK government partnership is something I did not see coming in 2021…
The UK government has launched a new initiative to drive the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout. As part of the scheme, UK online daters can now add a sticker to their profiles to show whether they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or if they support the rollout. Tinder is not the only dating app that has joined forces with the UK government – Match, Hinge, Bumble, Badoo, Plenty of Fish, OurTime and Muzmatch have all signed up as well.
In return for adding a sticker to your profile, these apps are offering users rewards, such as handing out increased numbers of ‘likes’ and ‘super likes’, and free access to premium features like profile boosts. Modern romance, eh?
New normal or just a trend?
It is estimated that there are more than 3 million Tinder users in the UK, so the UK government’s partnership is a clever way to encourage young people to get the jab. However, it is impossible to verify whether those with a shiny new sticker on their profile have genuinely had the vaccine, meaning many people can simply lie to receive access to the premium features. In this sense, it defeats the scheme’s purpose of boosting the vaccine rollout.
However, society has experienced a shift and as we come out of this pandemic, we all know life is going to be different – so is dating just another change to add to the list? Although dating apps are not new, they are still considered controversial – with people either enjoying them or downright hating them.
These vaccine stickers could revolutionise online dating, offering users greater choice over who they want to spend their time with – vaccinated or unvaccinated – as well as the ability to have more control over their own safety.
So far, vaccine stickers have received a mixed opinion online – with some users even suggesting this feature makes dating apps worse:
A romance killer?
Instead of swiping right for someone who seems interesting or has the same hobbies as you, will users now base their swipe on someone’s vaccination status? Perhaps users’ values have changed on what they look for in a partner, in which case they may welcome this feature.
Even if the vaccine sticker is just an accessory for a trend, it will be interesting to see how technology responds to this – will we be seeing these vaccine stickers on social media? Could this lead into the creation of new apps? The NHS app transforming into a medical passport for travelling has shown us that digital health is becoming more mainstream, and so it is not so strange that people want to bring this into their dating lives as well. Technology’s evolvement with the pandemic has been impressive so far, and we are eager to see what happens next!
Alice Alexander
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