Streaming services aren’t the only thing that have seen a surge in new activity in the weeks since much of the U.S. was shut down to help slow the spread of coronavirus. According to TMZ, dating apps including Tinder, Grindr and others have also seen a significant uptick in user engagement in the era of self-quarantine.
Sensor Tower, which tracks the traffic in a myriad of dating apps and the millions of people who use them, has reported a significant increase in their activity in recent weeks. Tinder, for example, saw an increase from 9.3 million users to 10.2 million over the past month. That growing userbase also swiped on the app a whopping 3 billion times on March 29 alone. In that same timeframe, Grindr went from 1.29 million to 1.57 million, while Bumble went from 3.63 million to 3.67 million.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Those three apps combined were also downloaded two million times in March, while April has already topped one million. The outlet also reported that some users were still meeting their online connections in person, while others were simply planning on meeting them in person when the social distancing guidelines start to lift, although no specifics were given.
Currently, the social distancing guidelines are in place until April, although President Donald Trump did unveil a three-tiered guide for states to begin to allow certain states to ease restrictions. The guidelines provide some basic provisions for specific declines in confirmed cases, as well as the capacity of hospitals and other healthcare centers. However, the president also stressed the decision was up to each governor to decide, which many had already begun through various coalitions based on the states’ proximity to one another.
To help aid the economy through this unprecedented time, the federal government released a $2 trillion stimulus plan. Part of the package includes a one-time $1200 payment to all adult U.S. citizens, some of which have already shown up in bank accounts. However, there have been some issues with the rollout. While people anxiously logged on to the IRS website to track their own payments, the website crashed. Paper checks were also delayed due to Trump’s request to have his signature included on each one.
As of Friday, there have been 2,243,512 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the glove, with 701,745 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
