Between March and September this year, we found 115m unique authors discussing relationships and dating apps on social media. Compared to 2019, this is an increase of 18%, an indication that in lockdown, people have become more open about their love lives.

What’s in the discussion?

We found that the relationship and dating app conversation between March and September has focused on “time”, in terms of how people had spent their time in lockdown, moving away from the more specific topics we found in previous years.

Ultimately the “time” topic (25m mentions) was driven by people re-evaluating their relationships, or committing to themselves that they would take the time to find someone perfect for them.

Meanwhile the “life” (11m mentions), “work” (10m mentions), and “home” (8m mentions) topics all clocked up mentions, as people aired their grievances about home working, unemployment, being alone or in a relationship they didn’t like, and how life wasn’t exactly what they wanted it to be.

Maybe social media is becoming the world’s agony aunt.

App dating isn’t dead

While it’s interesting to understand how people have talked about their relationships throughout lockdown, what does dating look like in a socially-distanced world?

In the last six months we found that conversations about the apps we studied increased 12% compared to the same period last year, an indication that, for better or worse, swiping right isn’t over yet.