In , Alina, an year-old resident of Lahore, downloaded Tinder. Alina, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym because of the social stigma attached to dating in Pakistan, was discreet about using Tinder and feared repercussions from her family.
It was fun exercising her choice for a while, before the option was taken away. By that point, Tinder had become the most popular dating app in Pakistan and had been downloaded more than , times in the 12 months preceding the ban , according to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Matchmaking groups on Facebook, exclusively catering to Pakistanis, erupted during the pandemic, garnering tens of thousands of members. Two Rings, which is volunteer-run and does not charge its users any fees, currently has nearly , members, and at least couples have found spouses through the group, according to Khan.
Facebook Dating, an in-app feature that the company launched in , is not available in Pakistan. Khan said she launched Two Rings because she was routinely being approached by family members and friends to match them or their children, and she had a strong dislike for the traditional matchmaking culture.
An average of four new profiles are posted on the group each day. Obviously, considering that, a lot of people are comparatively woke. Anaum Janjua, a single mother from Karachi, said that Facebook groups are far better at matchmaking than dating apps. For six to eight months, [I] was just observing. She finally posted her profile on the Facebook group in January and was overwhelmed by the response.
