Side-eye emoji to using the vaccinated status as a flex — here’s how India’s Gen Z dated online on Tinder this year

• Tinder’s ‘Year in Swipe 2021’ report is out and it highlights how online dating was for Indian Gen Zs this year.
• India is the chattiest country with Hyderanad, Chennai and Bangalore leading the number of Face to Face video chats on Tinder.
• The Year in Swipe report also shows how Gen Zs were more open to meeting outside and what their expectations were.

The year 2020 was all about quarantines and masks, while vaccination played a big role in 2021, and not just in real life but on Tinder as well. This and more on Tinder’s ‘Year in Swipe 2021’ report where it talks about the highlights of the year globally and in India.

Tinder’s Year in Swipe 2021 records data from January 1 this year to November 30 and among Gen Z (18-25 years old), its largest user base. The online dating platform also compares data from last year during the same period. So here’s a look at how Indian Gen Z dated on Tinder this year.

Video calls were a hit

2020 kept us indoors with video calls seeing a massive increase as everyone tried to keep in touch with friends and families. Tinder also introduced an in-app video call feature that launched in India in October 2020, and it turned out to be a big hit here too with users from Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru using the feature the most. Globally too the feature was a hit with mentions of ‘video call’ in Tinder bios increasing by 52% globally.

But it wasn’t just virtual calls as Tinder users were open to meeting outside this year. Mentions of ‘nearby’ and ‘close by’ increased by 20% in Tinder bios globally this year as people became more open to real-life dates.

Picnic in a park was among the favourite first date activities in India

Speaking of dates, there was a big interest in picking out different first dates this year. Long walks were a big favourite for Tinder users as it saw a 2x increase in bios along with other activities like cycling and pottery. For Tinder users in India, “picnic in a park” and “a virtual movie night” were the most popular choices.


Wearing the vaccinated badge with pride

Vaccination also played a big role for Tinder users to meet others in real life. During the period between February and August this year, local vaccination drives accelerated in India and so did mentions of ‘vaccinated’ in Tinder bios by 40x. The vaccinated badge was also the most popular among Indian Gen Zs with it actually becoming a flex on Tinder.

Another popular topic for Indian Gen Zs was small gestures such as ‘getting them coffee’ or ‘complimenting their outfits’ that would make someone's day.

Side-eye emoji was the most popular

Coming back to the virtual world, emojis are still a big part of Tinder bios with millions of members using them. This year, the side-eye emoji was the most used on Tinder with a 40% increase in usage in Tinder bios globally. This emoji, according to Tinder, was used to express the optimism and scepticism that users felt throughout the year. In addition to the side-eye, the other two most used emoji by Indian Gen Z were black heart and smile with blush face.