The past few years have been a trial by fire for the young Gen Z’ers of the world. Encapsulated by a global pandemic, pressing social issues, and the growing pains of adulthood, finding the time or energy to date casually or seriously has been next to impossible.
Online dating provides a solution for those in quarantine looking to make connections or for individuals looking to approach the dating scene from a newer, more comfortable angle. While the degrading raunchiness of existing dating apps may turn some users away, newer entries such as Snack are bringing vibrant life to the online dating scene for Gen Z’ers.
Snack brings together the best qualities of Tinder and Tiktok, two apps that defined their respective fields in early development and are a hit with Gen Z. Instead of flicking through profiles, users create and share short videos expressing themselves in a unique and creative way. The social feel resonates more with the app’s target audience than other traditional dating apps.
Snack: Video-First Dating for Gen Z
Snack’s founder Kimberley Kaplan explains the mindset that went behind the development of Snack. “Tinder is your parents’ dating app,” says Kaplan. “Gen Z will use it to match, then immediately migrate onto other social platforms, where they can engage in each other’s content without the pressure of starting a conversation. Meanwhile, TikTok taught people how to create compelling short-form videos and normalized video-first profiles. But TikTok doesn’t work for dating: you can’t see whether people are single, where they are, or slide into their DMs. Snack was created to be the best of both worlds.”
Many observations and studies have shown that Gen Z’ers respond to video more than any other type of marketing or entertainment, and are increasingly interested in video as primary communication. By implementing a video-first format, Snack capitalizes on that interest to provide the best online dating experience possible for the youth of today.
Snack is far from a fad that comes and goes with rapidly changing internet trends. A TechCrunch piece stated that the company has raised a $3.5 million pre-seed investment and is on its way to becoming bigger and better than ever. As development continues, more users will flock to the platform increasing its reliability and longevity.
The focus on video was a huge selling point for investors. “Having watched Kim in action for over a decade now this investment was an instant yes,” says Zach Coelius, founder of Coelius Capital, which is a big player in Snack’s investing round. “What is even more exciting is now I have seen the product, and it is incredibly clear that video is the future of dating.”
Making Online Dating Better
Kaplan joins fellow entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe in the quest to change online dating for the better. Wolfe is the founder and CEO of dating app Bumble, which recently went public and received a market valuation of $8.2 billion. Bumble was built around the dating needs of women, helping them make the first move and dictate their own destiny. Wolfe is paving the way for more platforms such as Snack to enter the industry led by extraordinary women and change it for the better.
In its earliest stages, Snack has already seen success with their Gen Z age demographic and membership that skews towards women. These numbers show the instant popularity of video-first online dating for Snack’s target audience as well as its growth potential in the years to come.
