AND IT'S A MATCH!

The swipe-right culture is thriving like never before changing how people used to seek intimate relationships. The question is: do it work?

- Syazil Abd Rahim

The dating culture has evolved with time. The very notion of romance may remain the same but the ways in pursuing it have certainly changed, especially since the advancement of technology, or to be exact, ever since dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and Match.com were introduced to the world. In my opinion, the Shakespeare’s romances have long been gone and our lives do not revolve around the prospect of a flourishing marriage like in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The advent of the culture has offered intimacy a new meaning while outlining the future of courtship.

Match.com was first launched in 1995 and became a major dating app on the planet for almost a decade. Geosocial apps Grindr and Scruff introduced in 2009 and 2010 respectively were designed to cater specifically to the LGBTQ+ community. Two years later, Tinder was established and quickly kick-off as one of the most popular dating apps until today. Since then, there have been a plethora of dating apps developed, such as OkCupid, Bumble and Paktor. Facebook also jumped on the dating app bandwagon by introducing its very own Facebook Dating in 2018 which comes with several features similar to that of Tinder. There are even apps dedicated to specific target communities such as MuzMatch for Muslims and JSwipe for Jewish. Online dating apps have progressively become a commonplace around the world and the market is estimated to worth around US$12 billion globally.