Key Takeaways
- Taimi In-Person addresses the queer community’s need for support and in-person bonding at LGBTQ+ social events.
- Creating safe spaces offline for the queer community is more important than ever, considering the modern political climate in the U.S.
- With more daters seeking authentic offline connections, Taimi In-Person joins Grindr and Feeld in fostering robust offline communities.
The LGBTQ+ dating app Taimi is not, in fact, just a dating app. One of its newest features, Taimi In-Person, highlights the importance of real-world connections for the LGBTQ+ community, making the app a social organizing tool.
Taimi In-Person allows users to promote and support local LGBTQ+ events. This seemingly-small innovation can have a big impact, as it connects LGBTQ+ daters to their surrounding community and bolsters queer voices that otherwise may have gone unheard.
On LinkedIn, co-founder and COO of Taimi, Jake Vygnan, explained how Taimi In-Person “offers collaborative, zero-cost cross-promotional support to boost visibility for LGBTQ+ events online and offline.” The goal is to spread the word about local LGBTQ+ events, garnering support for and by queer dating app users.
Other queer dating apps, even niche dating apps in general, can engage with users by giving them a similar tool to promote and support local queer events.
Taimi, Grindr, and Feeld’s popular offline events suggest that prioritizing IRL LGBTQ+ romance is an important way to nurture, and strengthen, the queer community.
Offline Opportunities Must Meet the Moment, Says Taimi
IRL connections can be more beneficial than those made on a dating app, and this is especially true for the queer community.
We’re living in a world that has become increasingly unfriendly toward LGBTQ+, something Taimi pointed out in a recent blog post. “Right now, it’s harder than it has been in decades for queer folks to exist in public spaces,” according to the app.
And even though online communities create alternate safe spaces, they don’t quite replace real-world connections.
“There is no real replacement for the ability to exist authentically, meet, and connect in public spaces,” Taimi added. The app cited a Hopelab study that found that 44% of queer youth feel safer online, as opposed to the 9% who feel safer offline.
One way for LGBTQ+ communities to feel safer offline is to support local in-person events held by queer communities. It not only boosts visibility for other queer people seeking connections, but helps an app engage with its users in real-world settings.
Community Building Addresses Daters’ Desire to Get Off the Apps
Taimi In-Person is the LGBTQ+ dating app’s response to daters’ calls for more authentic (and safe) real-world dating opportunities. Marketed as a promotional tool, Taimi In-Person’s potential as a community-boosting tool is easy to see.
Promoting local LGBTQ+ events gives daters who crave in-person connections the chance to have them among their own peers. It fosters a feeling of safety and opportunity that isn’t always available in an online dating setting.
The importance of taking LGBTQ+ celebrations offline is not lost on most queer spaces. Just look at Grindr, which set out on a bus tour this past Pride Month, hitting popular pride events and encouraging community members to invest in offline connections.
Feeld also hasn’t hesitated to take dating offline, its popular “T!TS OUT TAILGATE” party with Kesha making a splash earlier this month. The dating app for open-minded daters holds “Feeld Socials,” which it describes as a way to “engage new & existing Feeld members through IRL events that spark curiosity and vivid connection.”
Many dating apps are attempting to ease the transition to offline dating by introducing AI features that plan dates, suggest hyper-local matches, and even let daters communicate via voice AI. Taimi takes a hybrid approach, embracing innovation while using new tech to help people build offline communities.
Already, Taimi In-Person has proven itself to be an asset to event organizers and community-seeking queer daters alike: After completing its pilot phase, Taimi In-Person announced it had been used to promote 77 events.
