We are, at this stage, all too familiar with the ‘Stay Home’ and ‘Vaccination’ stickers and story tags rolled out by Instagram in the early days of the pandemic. Whether the stickers were designed for this purpose or not, they inadvertently work to show support of government lockdowns and vaccination programs, encouraging followers and friends to potentially follow suit. And it looks like there is a new addition to the club, this time in the world of online dating with Bumble today announcing the roll out of a new in-app ‘vaccination’ badge.
From this week until the end of 2021, users of the dating app in Australia and New Zealand, will be able to add a ‘vaccinated’ badge to their profile. This comes as Australians specifically, call for increased rates of vaccination; studies conducted by Bumble showing almost half of the community are asking dates if they have had the vaccine or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms before meeting in person, as compared to six weeks ago.
Making strides globally since the beginning of the pandemic, Bumble has introduced a range of features including the addition of Voice and Video call functions within the app, to assist with dating during lockdown and restricted periods. Seeing a steady increase in the number of people who have included the word “vaccine” or “vaccinated” in their Bumble profiles, it is proving a high priority for people in their return to dating and socialising overall.
“With nearly half of Australia in lockdown or under restrictions, we are encouraging all of our users to date virtually,” explains Bumble’s APAC Communications Director, Lucille McCart. “Despite these changes, we know our community is still open to finding love and that many relationships blossomed off the back of virtual dating in lockdown last year. As the vaccine rollout ramps up through the rest of the years, and as we eventually return to IRL dating, we hope that the new ‘vaccinated’ badge and other features will allow our users to easily communicate their dating preferences and feel comfortable and safe on dates,” she says.
This update speaks to a greater desire to encourage and incentivise vaccinations, globally.