Coffee Meets Bagel has announced that it is introducing a new feature called ‘Ready To Meet’, which will help users show what kind of dates they’re looking for during the “hot vax summer”.
The simple feature allows singles to choose whether or not they feel comfortable meeting each individual match in person. If both parties say that they are, the chat will be upgraded to a “Date”, prompting them to organise plans.
It works in harmony with Coffee Meets Bagel’s vaccination update which was added in March. Here, users can show the status of their vaccination to help others decide if they want to get together.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance, CEO Dawoon Kang explained: “We know that as people are getting more vaccinated, they’re becoming more comfortable with meeting in person.
“We survey our users every month to understand how COVID has been impacting their dating life. 9/10 Coffee Meets Bagel daters actually told us that they’re at least partially vaccinated and that has made them really optimistic about dating as a result.”
A lot of online dating companies, such as OkCupid, have found that their communities are more interested in someone if they’ve been vaccinated. Coffee Meets Bagel is no different, as 65% of users are increasingly likely to like a profile if they’ve received both jabs.
At the end of last week, a number of leading dating companies announced that they were working with the US government to assist with the vaccine drive. Part of this included special badges to show that they’ve been vaccinated.
Kang also stated that the pandemic has led to singles being more open and honest with their matches, as well as looking for longer-term relationships.
Watch the full interview here.