How social networking apps are different from dating apps

 In Mobile App, Mobile app development, Social networking mobile app

Introduction

Social networking apps are becoming extremely popular with the younger generation. Social networking apps provide the user with many benefits and services. They can make new friends as well as meet new people. These apps help in staying connected and in touch with old friends and colleagues. It helps in meeting like-minded people with similar interests and opinions. Nowadays, people spend most of their time browsing through these social networking apps.

Instagram and Facebook are some of the widely used social networking apps of all. On these apps, one can also meet and make new friends and even find the love of their life. The use of these social networking apps had increased with pandemic times when people were under lockdown. The need for social networking apps increased, but the use of dating apps also increased. It might sound surprising to you, but the number of users has increased during these times. Dating apps are specifically made for people to find their soulmate or the love of their life.

The role of social networking apps in the life of people

As per some studies, half of the children aged between eight and seventeen have social networking profiles like Facebook and Instagram. And its not just youngsters but people of all age groups use social networking apps as a means of communication. Not only is it a means of communication, but it is also significant for businesses as part of their marketing strategy. Social networking apps help share photos about exciting moments of our life with friends and family.

One can find anyone just by searching their names online. These social networking apps are like a reflection of people’s life and personality. They might not be the official app for getting your life partner or love, but there have been instances where people have met through social networking apps like Facebook and Instagram and fallen in love with each other. Many of them even ended up getting married. Such is the popularity of social networking apps, but they can never be compared with the official dating apps explicitly used for matchmaking and finding love.

How did the dating apps become so popular in recent years even during the lockdown period?

Those days are gone when people used to meet in church or temples for marriage meetings and tie the knot without knowing each other much. With the rapid cultural changes and increased use of smartphones, dating has become common these days. Dating apps have made things quite convenient and easy. Through these apps, two people can connect, discuss each other, know each other, and then meet to decide whether they will want to take it further. The use of dating apps like tinder and bumble has grown in recent years. It has become popular among age groups of 18 to 25. However, it can be accessed by any age group. Statistics found out that the users for such dating apps have increased tremendously during the lockdown period.

One of the significant reasons being- people cannot meet each other and have no one to talk to. Bumble, a dating app, has noticed an increase of 19 percent in messages sent during April. The Vice President of the dating app bumble said that the average video call and phone time call was at an all-time high all-18 minute, indicating the increased popularity of these dating apps. With people’s lives becoming busier and less time for social gatherings, these dating apps help these individuals find the right person for them and interact with each other.

Advantages of social networking apps

Social networking apps are used by people of all ages and serve varied purposes. Let us discuss some pros and cons of using social networking apps.

  1. Social networking apps are meant to connect people from anywhere. It gives the advantage of networking without borders.
  2. Through social networking apps, communication has become very convenient. Any news and information can instantly be seen through these apps without visiting different news websites.
  3. Social networking apps are great for marketing and promoting your business. These apps have helped people immensely grow their business. Over 4 billion social media users are globally ready to discover your information about your business or service.
  4. These social networking apps are also being used for exchanging ideas and information amongst each other.

Disadvantages of social networking apps

  1. Social networking apps have made people addicted to using these apps all the time. Stalking other people’s profiles for hours and watching posts one after another makes one addicted to these apps.
  2. Social networking apps can also lead to mental illness and problems like anxiety and depression.
  3. Most of the profiles on social networking apps are a fraud. Facebook is known to remove over 3 billion fake accounts in six months. This is again a significant problem for the ones using social media.
  4.  More than 80% of people who react on the link do not read the complete article or content on Facebook. Another problem is that there is much misleading or fake information on such apps, which spread like fire.
  5. Hacking is yet another prevalent problem with using social networking apps.

Advantages of dating apps

The popularity of dating apps has increased and is increasing because of the benefits accrued to it. Let’s discuss a few of them.

  1. Dating apps have made making new friends and finding your partner quite convenient. By downloading the app, putting some good pictures on the profile, and the right set of information, you are ready.
  2. Dating apps are a perfect solution for people who are introverted or are shy of talking to others. Such apps make things approachable and take out the fear of such people.
  3. Dating apps are quite versatile as one can find people of all origins to join in. It is not confined to caste, religion, or behaviour.
  4. Dating apps help in showing the real you. It boosts the user’s confidence as he can be honest to the other person without the fear of being judged.
  5. Dating apps offer the freedom to choose from the various options available as per their choice and preferences.

Disadvantages of dating apps

Every coin has two sides. Similarly, if dating apps have some pros, they have some cons associated with them also. Let’s find out some of the disadvantages associated with dating apps.

  1. Dating apps carry an image of being very casual or hooked/up in terms of relationships. People consider it unsafe and a desperate option. They consider it as a time pass.
  2. Cybercrimes are very common when one is using dating apps. The user’s data and pictures can be misused, and he or she can be bullied or blackmailed. It can also track your details and scams like following the other person through the information. Thus, for security reasons dating apps can be quite risky.

Dating apps can sometimes dig you into depression or self-doubt. It is not always that they might find the right person who creates self-doubt in the minds of individuals for the ones looking for true love and compatibility.

Differences between social networking apps and dating apps

While some might consider social networking and dating apps as one at the same thing, but it is not so. Both serve different purposes. Though people might argue that like dating apps help meet new people, social networking apps also do the same, but there is a difference. While dating apps are for dating people, social networking apps are to make new or connect with old friends. Let’s find out some other differences between the two terms.

  1. Dating apps require some registration fee to use the app. In contrast, social networking apps are free of cost and need necessary information like birth date, likes, dislikes, etc. A long list of questions is asked for using a dating app so that preferable partners can match.
  2. Social networking apps have their popularity and have a share of users using them solely. For instance, Facebook enjoys the loyalty of 70 percent of users online. In the case of dating apps, the users are divided among different dating apps. Some apps might cater to a specific religion, or some might come with a registration cost, and so on.
  3. When talking about finding love, both mobile apps can be equally helpful. But there is a significant difference here. At the same time, social networking apps can help you meet new people and know them and their families through their profile and pictures and ask each other for a date. Now, dating apps, as the name suggests people use dating apps explicitly for dating or in other words finding romantic interests. As per reports, roughly 1200 people marry every year, thanks to these dating or matrimony apps.
  4. People can meet in person through both the apps. But again, there is a difference. In the case of social networking apps, which help create an event and usually the ones who know each other will meet in person. Dating apps on the other hand help one meet their date once you get along well on the app itself. These people would be ones whom you don’t know or are new to you.

Conclusion

Although one might find some similarities between social networking apps and dating apps, that doesn’t mean that they are the same. Both of the app types have their pros and cons and are equally popular. But the popularity of social networking apps is much more than the dating apps as a particular age group uses these. Now, everyone is not that liberal or willing to register on dating apps. Almost everyone uses some or the other form of a social networking app. This is because of the n-number of benefits that are on the offer. But for those looking to meet their soulmates or love, they should prefer using a dating app.

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