Technology has given us the gift of choice. With apps to manage everything from what type of Thai food we want delivered to which model of car we summon to drive us down the road, the modern world has allowed us to curate our lives to a degree our grandparents would find baffling.
ThaiJoop is often given the title “Best Asian Dating App” among single Asian men and women, proven by their 4.5- and 4.1-star ratings in The App Store and Google Play, respectively. There’s also a desktop version if you’re more of the laptop-on-lap-on-couch kind of dater. Dating apps are popular around the world and the trend is slowly but, surely evading Korea as well. The Korean dating app industry values at a whopping $75 million. According to the data collected by experts, it has been found that only 1/3rd of Korean men aging from 21 to 39 do not make use of dating apps in Korea.
So when it comes to sex—where our tastes vary a lot more than they do for take-out or transport—it's no surprise that a vast global industry has been built around choosing the right mate. Swiping right began with LGBTQ dating app Grindr, launched in 2009, followed by Tinder in 2012. Biting at its heels came other imitators and twists on the same format, like Hinge (connects you with friends of friends), Bumble (women have to message first), and a multitude of options including choosing people according to the size of their Instagram following, their religion and whether or not they went to private school.
These apps were born in the US and quickly spread to Europe, but Asia—with a distinct dating behaviour and a different set of social norms and expectations—needed apps that tapped into local culture.
Security-widefield Asian Dating App
China
Security-widefield Asian Dating Apps
In China, this kicked off with Tantan, which operates almost identically to Tinder. But it quickly outclassed its American doppelganger by attracting a significantly higher proportion of users in China, particularly outside of mega-hubs like Beijing and Shanghai. Interestingly, Tantan is very vocal about how focused it is on relationships, rather than casual dating. There are even reports that users get a slap on the wrist, aka a text message warning, if they use suggestive language or words that imply they’re looking for a hook-up.