Video content in all its forms is conquering the world. Now, only a few will remember, but the first video on YouTube, called ‘Me at the Zoo’, was uploaded to the site on April 24, 2005. Today the number of videos on YouTube exceeds 140 million.
YouTube was the platform that began to instill in Internet users love for video content on the Web. Current realities make it clear that video hosting has succeeded admirably. We watch video reviews when we choose a product, watch trailers before going to the cinema, watch interviews with people we are interested in, meet, communicate and even go on dates via video link. Video content has become simply an integral part of our daily life. This is a great development!!
TikTok and its role in the popularization of video content
The history of the short video service TikTok dates back to 2014 when TikTok did not exist yet, but there was an application called Musical.ly. By 2016, its audience reached 100 million people. Musical.ly quickly supplanted the once popular Vine service. In 2016, Douyin hosting replaced Musical.ly, which in 2017-2018 outside Asia became named TikTok. In 2018, more than 600 million people used the app, and just two years later — more than a billion.
Some praise TikTok and call it a wonderful platform for art and creativity. Others criticize it for primitive and low-grade content. But what definitely can’t be taken away from it is that TikTok has made video an even more integral part of our life. There are even developers who follow the basic principles of TikTok when creating completely different services.
Snack: a combination of TikTok and Tinder
TikTok’s overwhelming popularity has not gone unnoticed. Other developers understood that trying to create their own TikTok was a fool’s errand, as it would be hard to lure the audience to a similar service. But there were those who came up with a great solution — to combine the principles of TikTok and classic dating apps such as Tinder, Badoo, or Bumble. This is how the Snack application appeared.
Snack is a dating service where users share short videos instead of photos and boring descriptions. Moreover, the videos can be very varied: stories about you, showing off your hobbies and talents, introducing your beloved cat — anything! Maximum freedom and minimum restrictions (within the bounds of reason, of course).
The Snack application allows each user to talk about themselves brightly and creatively, to draw attention to themselves, let their imaginations run free and just enjoy dating. No endless swipes, lengthy texting, and attempts to guess whether a real person is in front of you or a fake. In just a couple of minutes of video, you can learn much more about the other person than in a few days of active texting.
The only significant disadvantage of Snack at the moment is that the app is only available on iOS. Android users will have to wait for now. But it’s only a matter of time. Snack has hundreds of thousands of active users and a rating of 4.1 out of 5.
Interesting examples of video use in online dating
Other developers are also not missing out on the opportunity to use the video format to attract more users. Video chat functionality has already appeared in apps from Tinder, Hinge, Badoo, Mamba, and others, and video chat with strangers sites like omegle.com, chatrandom.com, and videochatomegle.com were originally based on video calling.
We can now observe how the line between random video chats with strangers and dating sites and apps is gradually blurring. Dating platforms are introducing online video chat functionality, and video chat sites are adding new filters and search settings, just like in dating apps. We believe this is a positive trend. After all, the functionality of applications and online services is expanding, and they are becoming more convenient and practical. Most importantly, they increase the chances of a successful and promising match on the Web.
Why people love video dating so much
There are many reasons, but we want to highlight five we consider to be the most significant.
Reason #1. The ability to quickly get to know a person
Time is a valuable resource. And spending it on endless swipes and hours of texting is not the best use of it. Just five minutes of video communication can replace an hour of messaging. And a video call can almost completely replace a real meeting. You and your chat partner communicate face-to-face in the same way, see each other, notice intonations and gestures. So you can immediately assess the mood of a person, their interest in further communication and the prospects for an offline meeting. Why waste time on long texting when you can have a one-on-one video call and get to know a person much better? We believe that regular text chats are a thing of the past.
Reason #2. Fewer fakes and bots
Unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes on dating sites. And no moderation is able to deal with them completely. Communicating only by text, it’s very difficult to understand what kind of person is in front of you and what they really want. You’ve probably heard stories where a person met someone on a dating site, talked for weeks or even months, hoping for a real meeting. And then the other person began to ask for money under a variety of pretexts, or even blackmail. There are a lot of these cases. We don’t claim that choosing video dating will completely eliminate this. But nevertheless, it is easier to recognize a fraudster or blackmailer here than in text messaging.
Reason #3. More honest, open, and genuine communication
Texting and even audio communication is not the most open way to communicate. You need to see the person in order to better understand their mood. In addition, this way you get even more opportunities to open up in front of the other person. You can play the guitar, show off your vinyl collection, take a tour around your room, introduce your pet, and much more. Yes, video calling can be awkward and embarrassing at first. But believe me, you’ll quickly get used to it and will feel quite comfortable.
Reason #4. Improving communication skills
Many people suffer from loneliness. The lack of communication over time only aggravates the situation — people are afraid to speak first, do not know what to talk about with strangers, and avoid new meetings. Communication via video link on a dating site or in a video chat improves communication skills and helps you relax and finally gain self-confidence. If you still can’t get over your embarrassment and start video-dating right away, try practicing speaking in front of a mirror. Or record your voice on a dictaphone and then listen. These simple workouts will greatly simplify your life and help you feel more confident.
Reason #5. It’s free (or almost free)
Most dating apps and random video chats are either completely free or partially free and offer additional useful features for a surcharge. You don’t need to spend money to go on a virtual date. But a real meeting can be very costly anyway if you decide to impress and go, for example, to an expensive restaurant. It’s good if that date gives rise to a long and happy relationship, but that’s not always the case. Millions of first dates end up being the last. And the time lost and the money spent cannot be returned. Yes, it sounds a little mercenary, but it’s true.
Video is the next dimension in dating
The Internet space is changing rapidly. Interesting new services and platforms appear, and familiar ones change beyond recognition. TikTok and Snack are far from the only examples that the Internet is developing, improving, and expanding.
Dating applications, online video chats, instant messengers, video hosting — all these platforms open up a huge world of high-quality content, interesting acquaintances, and prospects for the modern user. About 20% of all new marriages begin with online dating. And every year there are more and more ways to make friends on the Internet. The only question is what you personally choose.
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