The health crisis made mask-wearing an ordinary thing. While the measure is urged to prevent further spread of the virus, dating applications are giving a thumbs down on the face covering, The Korea Herald reported.
Photos of app users with masks on can be misleading, users said. A number of dating app operators are putting out those counted as a “magikkun” (a combination of word “mask” and “saggikun”, which means fraud in Korea) amid the increasing concern. It became among the newest buzzwords in the present dating scene in the country.
“I mostly swipe left on guys wearing a mask on dating apps,” a woman user, 29, said.
Identified only by her surname Yim, she said that she already had plans to prevent being led on by men whom she saw very differently when they took off their masks.
“Ideally, profiles with maskless photos are preferred. After chatting for a while I ask to send a selfie or video chat.”
CEO Kang Ba-da of online dating app Blind Date said that dating apps become famous as in-person gatherings are called off as well as dating face-to-face.
“Compared to pre-pandemic, the number of users and the revenue nearly tripled.”
Profiles of people wearing masks also increased in online dating apps since the pandemic. This triggered many complaints from the users, he said.
“So many profiles have photos with a mask on so we make sure only one photo with a mask on is allowed per profile.”
“But if it’s a full body shot, I think people still find it useful to scan one’s fashion style and body proportion even with a mask on,” he said.
Photos of people masking up have “grown massively”, noted Choi Ho-seung, CEO of Hsociety Corp.
A strict verification system is being used by the app for quality control measures. It also required people to have a balanced set of pictures for registration.