Seniors are Flocking to Dating Apps According to New Study

Seniors are a growing demographic of online daters, and they are flocking to popular dating apps, including Tinder, according to a recent study.

Independent insurance group Choice Mutual found that about one third of seniors who have dated in the last five years have looked to dating apps to meet people. In addition, two thirds of those using dating apps have found relationships with someone they met through the platforms, according to Forbes. 

Some top choices of apps were Tinder, Match and Hinge, with 35 percent of respondents saying Tinder was the platform where they met the person they were dating. Twenty-eight percent said they had the best luck on Match, 25 percent had found someone either on Hinge or Plenty of Fish, and 24 percent had found their significant other on Bumble.

Dating apps were not the only technology source seniors turned to for dating according to the study, but they definitely had the best outcome for those looking for relationships. Anthony Martin, founder and CEO of Choice Mutual told Forbes: "When we asked them which ways of meeting people had the best outcomes, 11 percent of seniors that were dating said social media was a good place to meet people and 21 percent said dating apps and sites.”

Technology analyst Charles King told Forbes that smart phones have been a driver of the adaptation of seniors to new technology, including social media and dating apps. He said: “In fact, you could argue that smart phones of every sort – not just Android or Apple devices – are the closest thing to home appliances, in terms of ease of use, features and reliability functionality, that computing technologies have ever achieved.”

He also attributed the findings of the study to the increased use of social media among people of all ages, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. "In a sense,” he added, “social media has provided people new channels and methodologies for connecting with family and friends. So taking a step forward into dating apps is neither as difficult nor as unusual as it would have been a decade or more ago."

The pandemic and the need to adapt to new technologies like Zoom were also a potential factor in the increased use of dating apps among seniors. As they became more comfortable with connecting digitally, that transitions easily to using dating apps, according to some analysts.

Sites like Silver Singles and Our Time cater specifically to seniors and have seen growth over the past year, but more mainstream apps like Match and eHarmony are experiencing the same significant growth in this age demographic, according to the study. It seems while Tinder caters to Gen Z daters, older daters might be worth some marketing spend, too.