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English|Chinese Gen Z No Longer Trust Matchmaking, Here’s Why( 四 )


Matchmaking dating shows such as If You Are the One and Who Can Search in the Crowd have also lost their mojo in recent years. Reality shows that feature content of strangers falling in love naturally have become a new trend.
In matchmaking dating shows, female guests would brutally rate male participants based on their appearance, profession and income, whereas on dating shows that are popular among young people focus on showing participants’ personality, interpersonal skills, hobbies and personal charm.
From matchmaking to social networkingIf young people no longer trust matchmaking sites, then where are they finding their dates?
The answer is dating apps that focus on social networking among strangers, which generate less pressure on the users.
Developers have been rolling out social apps that target social interaction between strangers in China, designed specifically for Gen Z users. According to statistics from market research firm iiMedia, 239 financings that took place in the Chinese Internet industry between January 2011 and September 2021 were from social apps that focused on interaction between strangers. The involved total investment was 8.836 billion yuan.
There have been many innovations in the dating app scene. Some apps focus on social networking and dating based on photo sharing and some specialize in voice messaging. There are also popular apps that focus on social interaction based on video sharing and livestreaming. In 2021, we had witnessed the emergence of apps that feature dating and social networking based on AI algorithms. Developers also came up with social and dating apps designed for specific demographics, such as young people living in third-tier cities in the country.
Tantan and Soul are amongst the fastest growing platforms.
In May 2021, Soul filed its prospectus and planned to get listing on Nasdaq. According to Soul’s prospectus, daily active users on the platform reached 9.1 million in March, 2021, registering year-on-year growth of 94.4%.
Users of traditional dating apps would generally leave the platform once they found a boyfriend or girlfriend. What distinguishes Soul from the crowd is its plaza feature, on which allows users to post photos, voice messages or videos to get interaction and gain followers.
It has become a norm for Soul users to post their meetup experience with other users on the plaza. Soul users would comment on such posts to help analyze what went wrong during the meetup to help their fellow Soulers to have a better date next time.
Soul gradually transformed into something more than just a social or dating app as its users discuss literature, music and many other hobbies its platform. The platform does not seem to worry about the shift created by its users. In early 2021, Soul announced that it will build a social metaverse for young people. The company has been working on this concept in the past year.
Soul seemingly wants to appeal to all Gen Z users with a comprehensive social platform. Dating is merely part of it.
Momo, another social app in China, shares similar a metaverse concept with Soul.
Momo had already shift its focus from dating to social networking and broad entertainment, Momo’s founder Tang Yan said in 2018 when the company acquired Tantan. Since the acquisition, Momo has been investing more on social apps for social interaction with strangers, rolling out apps such as Qiaoqiao, Duidui and Kaka.
In June 2021, some users discovered that an anonymous social function named “Mini Universe” had been added to Momo.
Momo’s Mini Universe functions in a way that is similar to Soul’s plaza. Users can publish their posts on Mini Universe where strangers can see. Another feature named “Gravity” connects different users for audio chat.
Chinese Internet giants such as Tencent, ByteDance and Baidu are also experimenting with their social metaverse concepts.
Matchmaking platforms that still indulge themselves in the traditional matchmaking business model have not only lost their edge among young users but also failed to keep up with the industry.

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