The second wave has led to a 20-25% surge in new users signing up on such platforms. Dating apps too are now positioning themselves as a way to find potential partners and not just casual chats.

Besides audio and video chat features that for dating to go virtual,the Covid vaccination status of a match has also emerged as an 'X FACTOR '. Those vaccinated are now flaunting the milestone on their profiles . For others ,just expressing the intent to get a vaccine ,or support for ot,helps too.

"In the last one month we've seen around 28% user growth and 25% increase in daily active users, " dating app Aisle's founder and CEO Able Joseph said

"When the lockdown hit last year ,we saw a surge in the number of installs due to boredom. But as time passed , we noticed users are looking for potential longterm partners."

Dating app Bumble's communications director samarpita samaddar said' "since India went into lockdown in March 2020,more than one in two chats turned into something large number of messages being exchanged."