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(opens in a new tab) (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.”
