If you’ve been anywhere near the internet in recent weeks (which, if you’re reading this, congrats, you have) you will have noticed that coronavirus news, updates and panic are pretty much unavoidable just about everywhere on the world wide web. Now the coronavirus discourse has spread to dating apps as well, with popular swiping app Tinder greeting users with a pop-up warning sharing coronavirus prevention tips.
“Your wellbeing is our #1 priority,” reads the message, according to screenshots that began circulating around Twitter earlier this week. “While we want you to continue to have fun, protecting yourself from the coronavirus is more important,” the pop-up continued, before listing a number of prevention tips including frequent hand washing, hand sanitizer use, avoiding face touching, and “maintaining social distance in public gatherings.” The message also includes a link to more information from the World Health Organization.
Response to Tinder’s seemingly well-intentioned if somewhat random gesture in the name of public health was mixed on Twitter. While some users applauded Tinder for taking initiative (arguably, as one user tweeted, more so than the government) in tackling the spread of coronavirus, others questioned why the already inescapable coronavirus discourse had to take over dating apps as well.
Why is this a thing. Tinder already makes me feel depressed I don’t need to feel anxious about this too?? Sounds insensitive af but I’m a bit over hearing about Coronavirus every second of the day. Life goes on!! pic.twitter.com/JsWC6cPvsl
— EDM🌞 (@EllieDaisy11) March 3, 2020
“Why is this a thing,” one user tweeted alongside a screenshot of the message. “Tinder already makes me feel depressed I don’t need to feel anxious about this too?? Sounds insensitive af but I’m a bit over hearing about Coronavirus every second of the day.”
Of course, Tinder’s health advisory doesn’t actually mark coronavirus’s first appearance on the platform. The disease first spread to Tinder last week, when users began making coronavirus profiles for fellow users to swipe on, because it’s 2020 and any public crisis, no matter how dire, will always be at least part meme.
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