OkCupid Celebrates 20 Years and Dishes Some Dating Trends
Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, February 07 2024 @ 10:11 am
Last modified on Wednesday, February 07 2024 @ 10:27 am
OkCupid just celebrated its 20th anniversary and released some interesting dating trends as we start 2024, driven mostly by its younger users. The irreverent dating app has attracted a wide array of singles over the years, thanks to its unique question and answer format for people to get to know each other.
The dating app surveyed close to one million of its users and found that almost 80 percent consider themselves independent daters, and those who declare themselves as independent are receiving 5 percent more likes compared to people who say they aren’t.
In fact, according to the company's blog post,[*1] in 2023 there was a 181 percent increase in mentions of “independent” on OkCupid profiles, which points to healthier dating trends in 2024. Other dating apps have also found their users (especially younger Gen Z daters) want to focus on their mental health and well-being before getting involved in a new relationship, so it seems to be a trend.
Younger daters want more honesty and transparency in dating as well. In fact 33 percent said honesty was the most important quality they looked for in a partner, followed by respect at 25 percent, open-mindedness at 23 percent, and a sense of humor at 19 percent. Mentions of the words “honesty” and “transparency” increased over 30 percent on profiles during 2023 as well.
As the dating app points out in its press release, Gen Z and Millennials prize transparency and honesty more than other generations, such as the more guarded Gen X, because they have grown up with social media.
Politics is taking a front seat in 2024 as the US and 60 other countries enter into another big election year. Gen Z and Millennials are increasingly interested in discussing politics with their dates (including 20 million users on OkCupid). Nearly 80 percent of daters on OkCupid said they were open to discussing politics with their partners, a big change from about ten years ago when people were less likely to want to discuss them at all.
Singles also plan to value their time a lot more in 2024, and video dating remains a popular option for singles since the pandemic when it really took off. Out of 2.5 million users, OkCupid found that about 23 percent said they like to video chat before meeting someone in person, up from 20 percent in 2020. Interestingly, those who are looking to video date first get 15 percent more Likes and 90 percent more matches.
For more on this dating service, check out our OkCupid app review.