Nature is Healing: Tinder Leaves Russia
15:50 GMT 30.06.2023 (Updated: 15:51 GMT 30.06.2023)
© Sputnik / Evgeny Odinokov
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The American company Match Group brands, which owns a vast global portfolio of popular online dating services, including Tinder, announced in May that it would be shutting down services in Russia. Access to what is popularly dubbed the "hookup app," accordingly, ended in Russia on June 30.
Bidding goodbye to Tinder doesn't mean the hopes of people seeking the love of their life or amorous relationships in Russia will be dashed, a recent poll has revealed.
Most of Russians prefer to seek romance in the real world, via friends or in the workplace.
Bye Tinder, Hello Old-Fashioned Romance
Now that the dating app owned by Match Group – an American Internet and technology company – has officially exited the country, many Russians online have joked that the old-fashioned dating methods are just as well-suited for the purpose.
Coming as no surprise, the workplace – not crowded and rowdy clubs – is the best environment for meeting the love of your life. Every fifth Russian has found their soul mate at work, Superjob.ru Portal Research Center found on the eve of Valentine’s Day this year.
Work turned out to be the most popular place for finding that significant other for 20 percent of the Russians questioned.
Dating apps and websites showed, perhaps, a somewhat unexpected result – only 6 percent found them useful for meeting someone who made their heart beat faster and 9 percent resorted to social networks and instant messengers.
Eleven percent of the respondents had their friends to thank for finding a love interest. For 9 percent of Russians, a causal acquaintance struck up out in the street turned into a serious relationship. Six percent said they had met someone at university, while 4 percent had done so at school.
Incidentally, perhaps it’s worthwhile to occasionally drop in to ask your neighbors for the proverbial glass of milk or pinch of salt, as 4 percent of Russians fell in love with folks next door.
For those who enjoy a stroll in the fresh air, alas, no more than 1 percent of respondents met their love in the park. The same goes for the countryside, and at the club. One out of 100 said they had known their spouse since childhood.
There is a reason why Russians prefer to get acquainted offline, in the real world, face-to-face, unlike people in Western society, Alexander Sinelnikov, professor, Department of Family Sociology and Demography, Department of Sociology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, told Sputnik.
American society is very "fluid" in the literal sense of the word, where folks often move from state to state, wherever work takes them. Accordingly, meeting someone on the Internet offers an easier and quicker option. In Russia, its not quite the same.
“Our society is different. In our country, perhaps, this idea of dating sites is not so popular. We, too, have a lot of people getting to know each other on the Internet, but not on sites directly intended for dating, but simply on social media,” Alexander Sinelnikov said.
Adding that Russia also has a great many different such websites where people can mingle online, he explained that Russian society is generally “more traditional” than in the West.
In our country, for example, the vast majority of the population is inclined to eventually enter a legal marriage, Sinelnikov underscored.
“At the same time, in Western countries, in Western Europe, and in general in the entire European Union bloc, by the age of 50, only half of the population enters into a legal marriage.”
Sure, that does not mean that the rest live alone, they find love, live together with a partner, but never register their union legally, the professor added.
In general, throughout Europe, more than 40 percent of children are born out of wedlock, he noted. In the case of Russia, the number is a little over 20 percent.
"After all, our society is more traditional, more pro-family oriented,” he said.
This picture taken on July 29, 2022 shows the dating app Tinder on a tablet screen in Moscow.
© AFP 2023 / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV
According to another survey, almost 30 percent of Russians strike up romantic acquaintances in the company of friends.
"The second most popular place for finding someone to make your heart flutter is work (23 percent). Social networks are used by 14 percent, while Russian dating applications offer a useful tool for 12 percent of those hunting for a love interest. 11 percent are not too shy to befriend someone right out in the street, while holiday romances are touted by every tenth person polled," the study said.
According to the survey, 22 percent of men and women agreed that to avoid ruining the mood of the first date, it should not tug at the purse strings of either party too much. To make that work, both male and female lonely hearts offered their versions of the best first date options.
The guys voted for:
33 percent - a park or city streets
28 percent - a cafe or restaurant
17 percent - at one's own or the love interest's home
11 percent - an active holiday trip out of the city limits
4 percent - a museum or gallery visit
3 percent - a movie or theater
The gals had their hearts set on:
36 percent - cafes and restaurants
35 percent - stroll in the park or city
11percent - an outdoor jaunt beyond the city limits
7 percent - quiet romantic evening at home
6 percent - visiting museums and galleries
By the way, to prove that Russian men are far from being cheapskates, most of them (77 percent) are convinced that they should foot the bill on dates.
Incidentally, looking back at Tinder, which entered Russia in 2012, according to Statista.com, in 2022, 3.5 million people had installed the app in the country.
Screenshot of chart by Statista Research Department showing most popular dating apps in Russia in 2022.
© Photo : Statista Research Department
And What of True Love?
Most Russians have experienced true love at some point in their lives – 82 percent – judging by a survey timed to the Day of Saint Peter and Saint Fevronia, also known as the Day of Family, Love, and Faithfulness in Russia, last year. Incidentally, when it comes to the over-20-year-olds, this indicator has grown impressively. Only 66 percent stated as much back in 2002.
And yes, married people acknowledge the existence of real love in their lives one and a half times more often than single and unmarried people (87 percent vs. 56 percent). A great love featured less in the lives of young people aged between 18-24 – 60 percent.
Most Russians, 67 percent, admitted that they had the blessing to experience true love in their lives only once. Women, according to the survey, are more likely to claim they have felt such a deep-rooted passion with only one individual (71 percent). As for men, 63 percent claimed the existence of just "one love" in their life – quite an inspiring number!
More than half of Russians firmly believe in love at first sight – 59 percent.
People over 45 are more inclined to favor such romantic notions (68 percent). When it comes to young people, they appear to be more skeptical: 59 percent in the group of surveyed 18-24-year-olds believe this is impossible.
As for marriage, love tops the list of reasons why Russians think people get married today (51 percent). Perhaps it is not surprising that women say this more often than men (58 percent vs. 44 percent). Coming in a close second among the reasons for tying the knot is the desire to have children – 16 percent revealed as much in the survey. Among other options, Russians named: procreation (6 percent), pregnancy (5 percent), tradition (5 percent), helping one another (3 percent), desire to live together (4 percent), and others.
