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OkCupid recently surveyed its users regarding their attitudes about dating going into 2023, finding that singles are more interested in open relationships and discussions about sex.

OkCupid had nearly 10 billion responses to matching questions in 2022 which revealed what singles will be looking for in 2023.

In addition to the pandemic’s impact on dating habits in general, younger daters are driving conversation around mental health, sober dating, and attitudes towards relationships and sex, according to OkCupid’s blog. Open relationships have been around for a while, but now young daters are challenging the stigma that has always been attached to them. Over the summer, OkCupid found that there was a 26 percent increase in mentions of “ENM” or “ethical non-monogamy” compared to the beginning of 2022, and a 42 percent increase compared to last summer.

Attitudes towards open relationships have shifted globally – with 30 percent of OkCupid users saying they would be interested in an open relationship (about 8.5 million singles), with Gen Z and Millennial daters being the most interested in ENM. The numbers are highest among European daters, with 49 percent of singles in Spain saying they would consider an open relationship, 46 percent in Switzerland, 40 percent in the Netherlands, 39 percent in Germany, and 37 percent in Italy. Brazil, Australia, and Canada had 35 percent, 34 percent and 31 percent of users interested in open relationships, respectively.

Image: OkCupid

Dating app OkCupid recently surveyed its users to assess the state of dating around the world in 2022. The company found that users are increasingly interested in discussing mental health and inflation concerns with potential dates.

Nearly all 1.6 million respondents from around the world said that mental health was as important as physical health, a noticeable shift in what daters are willing to talk about as they are getting to know each other. In fact, there was an 18 percent increase in people mentioning “mental health” and “therapy” on OkCupid profiles compared to last year. Part of the reason according to OkCupid is that Gen Z is driving these conversations and are a growing demographic. Discussions about mental health have also increased in the wake of the pandemic.

One of the most-asked questions on the platform is “are you sensitive?” and more than 90 percent of singles surveyed said they are (51 percent said sometimes, and 42 percent said all of the time). The company noted that admitting this seems to garner more attention and better response, especially for men.

Match’s annual Singles in America study found that one in five singles are hesitant to have sex in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which protected abortion rights for women across the country. Singles are also changing their habits due to the rising costs associated with dating.

Match found that four out of every five respondents have adjusted their behavior as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling, including increasing their use of condoms and having a greater fear of getting pregnant.

The survey found that seven in ten singles still maintain that sex is a good thing and improves their mental health, and 71 percent feel better after having sex. Still, they are more hesitant to have sex because of the Supreme Court decision. Many states are enacting legislation to either restrict or ban abortions altogether, placing more of a burden on single women who are of child-bearing age to seek medical care.

Bumble is testing a new speed dating feature in the U.K. to see how effective it is in getting users to engage with each other over the app.

According to Tech Crunch, the company has been alerting U.K. users to a specific date and time when the virtual speed dating event happens, so they can choose to join. When they do, they are not shown their dates’ photos up front – instead, they briefly chat before photos are revealed.

Tech Crunch did share how the feature worked, and that it’s being presented as a game rather than an event (referring to attendees as “players” who click a “play game” button to start). Participants must agree to some rules (similar to Facebook’s speed dating app Sparked), where they are asked to “keep it respectful” before they can play. They also must agree to not ask about their date’s looks – the reveal comes later, after the two have decided there’s a connection. Each couple is given three minutes to chat before they can see each other’s photos.

Dating app Hinge is targeting Gen Z daters with new video and polling features which are popular tools on social media apps.

Video Prompts and Prompt Polls help users strike up conversations in a more organic and playful way. Gen Z daters are looking for something more engaging than swiping, so Hinge and other dating apps are turning to game-like and video features to entertain and draw them in.

A video feature already exists in the Hinge app, but with Video Prompts, users are limited to recording within the app instead of posting something from their camera rolls, making for a more spontaneous and less polished introduction. Hinge says that this “encourages a filterless and authentic interaction between users,” according to Tech Crunch.

Image: Amazon Studios

Cosmic Love, a new astrology-based dating reality series launched by Amazon Studios, has become a hit among young Gen Z daters. Instead of experts doing the matchmaking, the show leaves it to the contestants’ birth charts.

The premise is already popular – more than a third of Gen Z singles use astrology to decide who they date. Dating app Bumble announced it is rolling out astrology-based features for its platform based on its own user surveys.

According to website Her Campus, the new series was developed in part by celebrity astrologists the Astrotwins, also known as Tali & Ophira Edut, the official astrologers for Elle magazine and who co-founded an entire astrology-inspired brand called Astrostyle (which includes a series of astrology-based novels). They wanted to extend their brand to television, and despite being Gen Xers themselves, have drawn young Gen Z viewers.