Her hair is tied up in a sleek bun, her make-up minimal β soft pink blush on her cheeks β but it is her eyes that do the talking. Oscillating between her smartphone and the cafe entrance, they finally stop at the latter as a strapping young man walks in. The duo connected on a dating app last week; this is their first in-person meeting. The woman is excited but also nervous. Until a decade ago, the couple who met online would have been an anomaly. But with technology rapidly taking over every aspect of life, online dating seems to have become a norm more than an exception for young adults looking for companionship in a busy, demanding modern world.
And Delhi , being a melting pot with people from all walks of life and parts of the country making it their home, seems to be playing a perfect backdrop for fledgling virtual-to-real love stories to play out. While the year-old met her online match in person, a year-old Delhi University DU student is still weighing his options. His thumb hovering over his smartphone screen, the multiple dating apps at his disposal have opened up a world of possibility and hope outside of his conservative family in his hometown, Kanpur, in Uttar Pradesh.
The proliferation of smartphones and dating apps has revolutionised how young Delhiites approach relationships. During the pandemic in , Tinder became a virtual lifeline for many, providing much-needed human interaction. Gen Z specifically sought out Tinder to meet new people and get out of their echo chambers. Like the student, a year-old woman is finding a way out of her small-town life through the few dating apps that dot her phone screen. For a year-old banker who lives with his parents in Dwarka Sector, though, these websites are yet to catch up with what modern partner-seekers want.
He has been dating her for two months now. You keep second-guessing every connection because you know there are always more profiles to look at. While Tinder and Bumble dominate among year-olds, slightly older users between the ages of lean toward apps like Hinge and Aisle. Other variables like career goals, cultural expectations, and the desire for deeper connections further shape the experiences of older daters.
A year-old entrepreneur, who works in the field of fashion, agrees. Hinge feels like the right place for that. People seem more grounded, more open to having deeper conversations.
