Forget about hard-launching your partner, we are now in the era of the soft-launch. In the days before Instagram, couples would become social media official on Facebook (can you believe it?). They would simply update their relationship status to ‘in a relationship,’ and boom.
But if you were really brave you’d change your relationship status to ‘in a relationship with’ and tag your partner in the post – what a truly crazy time it was.
It used to be so simple, but now things are a little bit more complicated. Of course, you could go on the ’gram and upload a picture of you with your partner but there’s something about teasing your followers that feels more mysterious and fun.
Tinder revealed that one in four 18–34-year-olds would gradually share their new match on social media compared to just 8% who would do a big reveal on their social channels. While others are just happy to keep their relationship private.
22-year-old Lucy O’Brien who is a journalist and content coordinator had reservations about soft launching her partner before they became official as she had rarely made it to the relationship stage with previous flings.
“I didn’t want the embarrassment of launching him and it not working out. Because (until now) I had never had a relationship, I struggled with the idea of sharing my space and his presence on my platforms - probably because I’m so used to it being just me,” O’Brien says.
However, the longer she dated her partner the more she trusted that it was going in a serious direction. “I felt the urge to soft launch him with my friends. It was the first time that I felt like I was actually going to head into a serious relationship, and enjoyed sharing that I had *finally* met someone great on my socials.”
She mainly used BeReal to soft launch her new partner as the notification would often come up when she was with him. “At first, I would just post pictures of our dates (not his body or face) and slowly started to catch small glimpses of him (like his arm, side profile, etc) as I got more confident it would progress.”
She felt like it was a fun way to tease her friends and look forward to the inevitable hard launch.
“For me, soft launching was my own way of coming to terms with the fact that I was finally being treated well and was becoming ready for a relationship,” she says.
Gbemi* who is a 25-year-old artist from London made it social media official when she tweeted this ultimate soft-launch picture.
This photo of Spanish football player Xabi Alonso hanging up his boots at the end of his football career is used worldwide by people who want to tell the world they are off the market.
Gbemi posted the picture on her Twitter with the caption “Well I’ve only gone and officially taken her off the market.”
Prior to this, she posted hints and pictures over social media including a video of the pair in Manchester for her girlfriend’s birthday.
“I had no reservations when it came to soft launching. But I have reservations in terms of being extremely public with my relationship with is why I mainly post about her on my Twitter circles or close friends on Instagram,” she says.
“I also soft-launched so that people would stop expressing interest in me. Secondly, I just wanted to be able to talk about my person without giving too much away,” she adds.
Other Twitter users shared with HuffPost UK the cute and subtle ways they made their relationship social media official.
If you’re about to soft-launch your new partner, check out Tinder’s three top tips below.
- Hidden in plain sight: Include an image of you and your partner in your next photo dump, they might not be front and centre, but at least they’ve made an appearance..
- Date night delight: A date night can be the perfect time for a soft launch - whether that’s a picture of you holding hands before the movie starts, or a side profile of your new love looking at the art at your favourite museum, there is a world of opportunity
- Tag away: Tag your partner in your social posts, but if you’re looking to soft launch, give a little context to the post. A simple tag is a good way to introduce your new match to your online profiles and a way to keep your followers guessing… even for a little while.