Young people want to soft launch their partners, Tinder says

As a millennial, I remember the days of changing one's Facebook status to "in a relationship." At the time, it felt like a grand gesture, and friends treated it as such.

In 2023, however, Facebook is for our grandparents, and people reveal their partners on social media — Instagram, more likely — through soft or hard launches. The soft launch is a hint, say an Instagram story featuring the partner's hand, or a photo of the back of their head buried in a carousel. Hard launching, meanwhile, means posting photos of your new person outright, like Lizzo did earlier this year (she even captioned it, "Hard Launch").

Tinder found out that one in four (26 percent) of 18-34 year-olds would gradually share their new match online, while just 8 percent would do so in a big reveal, according to research of 2,000 adults in the UK conducted last month. Others, meanwhile, are happy to keep their relationship private.

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Internal profile bio data from December 2022 to February 2023 supports the trend: More Gen Z women have "soft launch" in their bio compared to "hard launch." Women are also more likely than men to wait a few months until they're confident in the relationship to launch their partner on social media.

"Feeling the pressure to 'announce' your new love to the world can be a little daunting," said communications director for Northern Europe at Tinder, Laura Wilkinson-Rea, in a press release. "But whether it’s a 'hard' or 'soft' launch, everyone should be able to do it at their own pace and what’s right for them."