63% Bumble daters used everyday life photos for profile pictures in 2020: Data

2020 dating trends released by Bumble indicate that 40% of daters claim to no longer feel confident about how to date successfully.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the desire to have human connection most definitely increased with people being quarantined alone at home. Dating in the times of a pandemic might seem daunting for some, but with the emerging online dating apps, the chance of finding someone did not completely shut down. Data released by Bumble indicates that 2020 redefined the concept of dating and changed the dating rules by navigating it towards more virtual and socially-distanced dating etiquette.

Online dating platform, Bumble’s most recent data revealed that over 40% of daters in India say they are no longer confident that they know how to date successfully and 70% of single Indians say they are not comfortable navigating dating in 2020, while one in two claim they are ready to go on a date in-person. 

Here is a look ahead to what that means for the future of romance as we head into 2021:

• The most Trending Topic in 2020: Needless to say, The most popular topic of conversation in 2020 was ‘working from home’ as 57% of daters discussed this as their new normal.
• Making the first move: Singles dived right into making their first move with their profile prompts. Profile Prompts allow you to showcase your interests and what you're looking for. The most popular prompt used in India in 2020 was Beach or mountains, Nightclub or Netflix, We’ll get on if…, and so on.
• Emojis of choice: Some people love to use Emojis in their conversations to make it fun, while others say a lot through Emojis. The most used ones on Bumble profiles in India was the classic red heart ❤️. Other than that, ?☺️??, these four were amongst the most used Emoji by Bumble users in India.
• When the Stars align: Zodiac signs continue to be a hot topic amongst the Bumble community. Leos were the luckiest of them all to find the most matches on the dating site, followed by Scorpio and Libra.

Also Read: Virtual dating emerges as a recurrent theme in lockdown brand campaigns

• Must-have Photos: Finding the perfect pictures to put on your dating profile is one of the toughest decisions because well this is what your potential S.O. is going to look at first. 2 in 3 (63%) of Bumble daters used photos of them in their everyday lives on their profiles in 2020 while selfies (62%) took the second spot. 
• Dating in the time of COVID-19: Bumble launched new dating badges to help people communicate how they would like to date, virtual, socially-distanced, or socially-distanced with masks. 
• The new dawn daters: Over 46% of people on Bumble in India are likely to be “New Dawn Daters” – people who are newly single after experiencing a break-up. While the biggest driver of breakups was the inability to see a partner (46.45%), 1 in 3 people (29%) also said that the pandemic has precipitated existing issues. 
• The era of Slow dating: Because of the pandemic, single people felt a strong desire to build trust online before taking the relationship offline, leading to more virtual communication. More than 40% of Bumble community slowed down the initial phase of "getting to know you". With an increase in video and voice calls, this actually seems like a great option for some as they might have the chance to find something meaningful for themselves.