Love at First Click

By: Ashwini Thanabalan Single and ready to mingle? Well, with the digital age, dating has been made simpler especially with the rise of dating applications. Dating apps have managed to successfully do away with the sense of propriety and taboo that used to cause much moral dilemma with regards to non-traditional dating. A Marriage and Parenthood study conducted in 2016 has stated that 43 per cent of singles are open to finding love to dating applications and websites. Of those who were in a serious relationship, 16 per cent cited to have found their love through online channels. This shows that dating online is viable. But what are the differences with all the applications? We break it down for you!  

• Tinder

Tinder is seemingly the most popular dating application. The swiping function on the application is rather addictive and you might not know who you will catch! It has taken the world by storm with its innovation and a game like interface. Success stories are abundant – popular radio DJ Jamie Yeo also found her Mr Right (swipe) on Tinder earlier this year. The app is free but, a premium membership is available for $12.74 per month where there is the ability to rewind a profile that you accidentally swiped left, five super-likes each day and additional boosts to help your profile get viewed more. The downfall of this app is that with its game-like interface many do not take it seriously, with many using the app to check their popularity or gaining more Instagram followers. Overall, if you are looking for a serious relationship, this isn’t the application that you are looking for.  

• Happn

An app to help you find the people that you’ve crossed paths with! Basically, it shows the profiles of people you have walked past on a regular day and how many times you have crossed paths with them. Just like Tinder, this app is free but a premium membership is available for $0.45 per credits which can be used to remove advertisements and say ‘hi’ to people. For this app to work, your location settings have to be constantly turned ‘on’ and without travelling much, you will not meet a lot of new people. This does drain battery power on your phone. But, it is a great app to find that cutie you saw on the MRT

• Coffee Meets Bagel

How does the app work? The guys are the coffee, while the girls are the bagels. Each day at around noon, guys will receive up to 21 matches, with the option to either LIKE or PASS them. This is only available for 24 hours. Then, the best potential matches for women would be curated among the men who have expressed interest in them. Women get to choose who gets to talk to them amongst those who have already liked them. The user-interface of this app is a little confusing to figure out and requires one to spend a fair amount of time building up their profile. Just like the other apps that we have mentioned, Coffee Meets Bagel is free with premium membership available for $46.99 per month to access other people’s activity report and more. These reports tell you how often they send at least one message to a match, how often they send the first message, how active they have been in the past 72 hours and average response time. Coffee Meets Bagel looks like the ideal app for a serious relationship with the user answering a set of questions about themselves as part of introductions. It also caps the number of profiles you get to see for free each day, which discourages swiping frenzies. The final decision is also left to the women ensuring that both parties are interested in each other, minimizing the guessing game.  

• Bumble

With all the talk on feminism going around, think that the girl should make the first move? Then Bumble is the app. Women always make the first move and if she does not say anything within 24 hours, the connection disappears. Men are not able to make the first move; however, they are able to show interest by extending their time limit in the queue by one day. Bumble aims to eliminate the level of awkwardness after a connection is made, and set the stage for how conversations begin. Premium membership is available at $12.98 per month, to view statistics such as who’s already liked you and to rematch with expired matches. More functions are also available under premium. This app was created to counter hetero dating norms such as things like “guys have to make the first move”. The power is in the women’s hand, which also gives them a sense of security. This makes the app purpose of connecting people more fun and safe. So, do you see an app for you? In our opinion, Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel is curated towards safer and more serious relationships, while Tinder and Happn promote a fun and playful online experience.