Pop-culture references have often influenced dating choices and it has many a times seemed far too important for romance hopefuls to look for a shared interest while looking out for a love match. And on dating platforms, it often does help to establish common grounds in a way and for many, pop culture is a huge slice of what defines them. Perhaps one of the biggest, if not THE biggest effect 90s television had on a whole generation of Gen X and millennials, who were growing up was the titular FRIENDS. The sitcom’s been a wild wild success ever since it aired and even years after it ended, has continued to garner fans and enjoy unending popularity for even those who weren’t even born when the show aired first back in 1994.
A recent study by dating platform Tinder India has revealed just how the show seems to have cast a spell on even Generation Z on a huge scale who aren’t shying away from casually throwing in references to the show when it comes to their Tinder bios, or descriptions on their dating profiles. Since April, there has been a 3.5 times increase in mentions of ‘Friends Reunion’ on Tinder this year in April as compared to the year before.
If one were to look at some technical statistics, there have been over 90 percent of Tinder bios that have found mention of Friends among the Gen Z people. Narrowing it down a bit, among the characters who scoop up a lot of mentions, Chandler Bing, the funnyman of the Friendsverse came on top in April 2021.
The style diva Rachel Green played by Hollywood darling Jennifer Aniston has been a huge favourite on Tinder. The character was a huge hit with her 90s fashion, hairstyle and even now, the popularity seemed to have not diminished in any way. Going by percentile, the character led by having a 62 percent of mentions among bios, followed by Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani with a solid 58 percent of mentions.
Ross Geller’s catchphrases ‘Unagi’ and ‘My Lobster’ have also featured on Tinder bios. Some of the descriptors that Gen Z have dropped in on their profiles include:
1. Let’s be Monica and Chandler in a world full of Ross and Rachel
2. Sarcastic like Chandler, innocent like Joey, funny like Phoebe, organized like Monica (not), serious like Ross-Rachel’s love!
3. Waiting for a Joey to come by and say, “how you doing?”
4. Looking for Monica, but only coming across Janices :/
5. Contrary to Joey, I do share my food
Tinder India often has been seen to engage with users on social media with various mentions of FRIENDS references and users have also equally reciprocated, reestablishing the effect the show’s had on people across generations, despite it being more than 25 years ago since the show first aired.
Friends: The Reunion special amassed over one million views and counting from across the country upon release on Thursday.
Fans all over the world have responded emotionally on social media watching the six titular friends return, and buzz over the show continues to grow.
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