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A recent study by OkCupid has found that above all else, singles want to know where people stand politically, and more specifically, if their matches’ views align with their own.

According to OkCupid's blog post, 6 in 10 women around the world want their partners to share their political views. In the U.S. which has become more divided since Trump took office, that number climbs as high as 70 percent. More than half of Gen Z men and women want to share the same political views, as do 63 percent of Millennials and 64 percent of Gen X daters. Among LGBTQ daters, that number goes up to a whopping 80 percent.

According to OkCupid, today’s singles are more interested in where someone stands on issues like climate change or reproductive rights, rather than something benign like where they last went on vacation. And if their politics don’t match, it can be a dealbreaker.

Tinder Dating Handbook

Image: Tinder

On International Women’s Day, Tinder announced the launch of Her New Dating Rule Book, a guide to challenging dating norms and traditions for singles in India.

According to Mashable India, the new guide offers new “rules” for dating today, including who should foot the bill on a first date. Traditionally, it’s been the man, but Tinder says that dating dynamics are changing, and young women in India embrace a more progressive, less traditional approach.

One of the first rules of the guidebook states: “Respect Over Outdated Gender Roles, a.k.a. Chivalry 2.0,” to highlight the fact that young singles are looking for mutual respect and dates who keep promises over outdated notions of chivalry, like expecting a man to pay for a meal. And 36 percent surveyed said they value dates who give their full attention and put the phone away on the date.

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Tinder has partnered with food brand Knorr to encourage users to highlight cooking skills on their Tinder profiles. A whopping 93 percent of Gen Z Tinder users find a date’s ability to cook attractive.

According to Design Rush, the new campaign encourages Tinder users to “unlock their green flag” by touting their ability to cook in profiles and hopefully sparking conversation. Knorr is also helping Tinder users get inspired by offering recipes and cooking tips on TikTok and Instagram leading up to Valentine’s Day under the campaign hashtag #UnlockYourGreenFlag.

According to the joint press release, Knorr and Tinder conducted a study of users to find that 63 percent are more likely to swipe right on someone with cooking listed as interest. And about 28 percent of singles said they won’t consider dating someone who can’t cook.

Tinder released its annual Year in Swipe study, and while the company has struggled in recent months to attract new paying users, many are still turning to the app to find serious relationships, not just hookups.

“Looking for…” was Tinder’s top bio mention in 2024 according to its global data. The company also found that a majority of singles – 53 percent of men and 68 percent of women – want a romantic relationship. But they are doing more than posting this desire in their bios. Nearly 20 percent of 18-to-30-year-old daters said they are creating vision boards to manifest their ideal relationship in 2025 (assisted by Tinder’s new interactive vision board tool that can be shared with friends and family).

Tinder CMO Melissa Hobley told Mashable: "I'm seeing — I think a lot of people seeing this growing frequency of people say, 'Do not talk to me if you're not looking for something serious.'"

The 2024 election has created rifts among the American population, and it is already shifting dating behavior along political lines.

After Trump’s victory, people are not keen to state who they voted for or what their politics are for fear of turning potential love interests away, but app users are still searching for coded messaging on the platforms. According to USA Today, if someone lists their politics as moderate or apolitical, or go to lengths to avoid stating where they stand on certain issues, potential matches identify them as “lowkey Republican,” or MAGA or Trump supporters.

Daters are also reading into profile pictures, and assuming that blue hair or blue clothing points to more liberal political opinions, and likely that person voted for Harris.

In time for National Coming Out Day on October 11th and Spirit Day on October 17, a new report was released by GLAAD in partnership with eHarmony that explores the way dating apps intersect with how the LGBTQ+ community shares their identities and sexual preferences.

The report details how non-binary, trans and LGB+ daters express (or don’t express) themselves and their preferences over dating apps, and their differences in experiences on these platforms.

Overall, Gen Z daters have been much more likely than previous generations to come out on a dating app. Sixty-six percent of Gen Z daters came out before they were 18 years old, and 93 percent came out by age 22, compared to only 40 percent and 76 percent of Millennials, respectively.