The global state of digital dating

Nearly 10 billion responses to OkCupid’s in-app matching questions reveal what singles will be looking for in 2023

OkCupid is the only dating app in the world that matches people based on what matters most to them. The magic happens through in-app questions that power our algorithm. These questions — which were answered 500 million times this year, and scrutinizingly 10 billion times since we launched in 2004 — address every issue that’s top of mind for Gen Z and Millennial singles. This year those topics ranged from the termination ban, LGBTQIA rights and voting in local elections to cancel culture, the metaverse, OnlyFans and therapy.

In 2022, the most answered new questions included:

• Are you sensitive?
• Are you sentimental?
• Is inflation impacting your dating life?
• Do you understand what the metaverse is?
• Is it important to you that your partner looks without their health?
• Does the idea of a walking stage finger like less pressure than a face-to-face date?
• How long do you want to stage surpassing exclusively dating someone?
• Would you stage someone that wasn’t your usual “type”?

Discussions virtually mental health are a turn-on.

Being vulnerable is one of the increasingly lulu traits to singles these days. Increasingly than 9 in 10 daters on OkCupid say they are sensitive (51% are sometimes, 42% are all the time), and this honesty pays off when it comes to dating, expressly for men. In 2022, men who say they are sensitive are receiving 107% increasingly Likes and 86% increasingly Matches, and are having 113% increasingly conversations than men who say they aren’t sensitive.

Nearly all 1.6 million respondents on OkCupid believe mental health is just as important as physical health, too, and daters are looking for matches who treat it as such. There was an 18% increase in people mentioning “mental health” and “therapy” on OkCupid profiles in 2022 compared to 2021. And we expect these numbers to only increase in 2023 as Gen Z singles protract to momentum conversations virtually mental health.

Men, in particular, are increasingly unshut to having mental health conversations with their partners. 71% of over 80,000 men on OkCupid said mental health is important and they’re unshut to having discussions well-nigh it, while 21% well-set it’s important but admitted it’ll take time for them to be well-appointed discussing it with a partner. And this is helping their chances. Men who said they are unshut to having conversations well-nigh mental health are receiving 276% increasingly Likes and 201% increasingly Matches than men who aren’t.

We’re moreover seeing that establishing expectations within prospective relationships are yielding positive results for singles. People who vouch for healthy boundaries in relationships are having 51% increasingly conversations and getting 68% increasingly Likes. They’re moreover getting 5% more Matches.

And practicing self-care, like unsuspicious your emotions and seeing your potential, is one of the most important steps to making sure you’re ready to date. A majority (97%) of OkCupid respondents believe it’s important to practice self-love, and those who do are getting 92% increasingly Likes and 30% increasingly Matches. They are moreover having 93% increasingly conversations. So what do you have to lose?

Open relationships are no longer taboo.

Though openly non-monogamous relationships have been virtually for centuries, younger generations are embracing them, alleviating the stigma they once carried. This summer, there was a 26% increase in mentions of “ENM” or “ethical non-monogamy” on OkCupid profiles compared to the whence of the year and a 42% increase compared to last summer.

In fact, of the nearly 30 million people on OkCupid, 30% (roughly 8.5 million singles) reveal they would be interested in an unshut relationship. And people are rhadamanthine increasingly unshut to upstanding non-monogamy. In 2018, 30% of Gen Z and Millennial daters on OkCupid said they would be into an unshut relationship, which jumped to 33% and 36% respectively in 2022. People have increasingly love to give, and want to share it with increasingly than one person! And Gen Z is leading the charge.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the countries leading the charge — with the highest rates of people on OkCupid who were considering an unshut relationship — are largely in Europe, including Spain (49%), India (48%), France (47%), Switzerland (46%), the Netherlands (40%), Germany (39%), Italy (37%), Brazil (35%), Australia (34%) and Canada (31%).

The economy is impacting how people are dating.

Globally, scrutinizingly 40% of people on OkCupid say that inflation is impacting their dating lives, and the youngest daters are feeling it most. When asked, 42% of Gen Z singles on OkCupid are feeling the impact of the economy compared to 35% of Millennials and 29% of Gen X.

In the United States, a majority of daters want to spend less than $50 on the first date — a nonflexible thing to succeed in today’s economy — and Gen Z’ers are the most inclined to seek out less expensive stage ideas. When asked how much they want to spend on a first date, 54% of singles said $50 or less, while 36% said $51 to $100, and only 11% said they are well-appointed spending over $100 on a first date. Additionally, 62% of Gen Z respondents on OkCupid preferred to spend $50 or less compared to 55% of Millennials and 44% of Gen X.

We expect this movement to follow economic trends into the new year, expressly as women are 57% increasingly likely to want to spend less than $50 on a first date. But there are positives to this. People are rhadamanthine increasingly creative with the stage ideas they recommend to their dating app matches.

Sex-positivity is on the rise.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted sexual worriedness and how people were talking well-nigh sex. People were hesitant well-nigh hooking up, but in 2022 those fears are subsiding. Scrutinizingly 36 million people on OkCupid answered our matching question well-nigh what’s increasingly interesting right now, and the value of people saying “sex” over “love” increased from 26% of respondents in 2020 to 31% in 2022. Daters exploring their venturesome side are moreover returning to pre-pandemic rates. In 2019, 88% of OkCupid respondents said they were kinky when asked, but this dipped to 85% in 2021 and began to rebound to 86% in 2022.

But while daters are hitting the sheets, they’re moreover staying protected. In 2022, 71% of people on OkCupid said they unchangingly practice unscratched sex and 24% said they usually do, and daters who say they unchangingly do get 24% increasingly Likes and 17.5% increasingly Matches than people who say they never do. So don’t forget to come prepared on your dates.

Young daters are causing increases in sober dating.

The pandemic and rising financing of living really velocious the value of people stuff unshut to sober dates, but moreover sober relationships.

In 2012, 84% of singles on OkCupid said they were unshut to dating someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, but that jumped to 96% of respondents in 2022. And young daters are leading the tuition here: Gen Z singles (97%) on OkCupid were the most likely this year to opt for a relationship with someone who is sober compared to Millennials (96%) and Gen X’ers (94%).

And people who are open-minded are unquestionably increasingly successful on our app. Daters unshut to matching with people who are sober get 12% increasingly Likes and 29% increasingly Matches. They are moreover having increasingly conversations than people who aren’t.

The weather has moreover impacted this trend. As we headed into colder months, people were unquestionably looking for alcohol-free dates. In September 2022 there was a 19% increase in mentions of “sober” on OkCupid dating profiles compared to the same month the previous year. Next year, we visualize young daters increasingly opting for alcohol-free dates increasingly than ever before.

After the midterms, singles are still political.

The 2024 United States presidential referendum has not yet begun, but daters are once looking to match over similar political views. Well-nigh 30 million people on OkCupid have said they enjoy discussing politics. And since the 2016 Presidential Referendum there has been a 138% increase in the number of people on our app saying they enjoy having political conversations.

But singles aren’t just getting political on their dating app profiles. They’re moreover participating in politics. Nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of 3 million respondents on OkCupid are registered to vote — and scrutinizingly 1 ½ million people said they could “absolutely not” stage someone who doesn’t vote. Plus, increasingly than 4 in 10 daters are unshut to running for office (10% of respondents said they would and 32% would consider running for the right position).

And that’s considering they’re moreover unhappy with what’s happening in the highest levels of government. Increasingly than 7 in 10 daters (73%) in the United States superintendency well-nigh new Supreme Court appointees, and 74% think LGBTQ rights are at risk given the current justices on the Supreme Court.

Gen Z is unshut to dating in the metaverse.

The term “metaverse” first surfaced decades ago, but it trended on OkCupid this year without we widow new in-app matching questions well-nigh this digital world. These questions are:

• Do you understand what the metaverse is?
• Are you excited well-nigh the metaverse?
• Have you joined the metaverse?
• [Would you] Stage in the metaverse?
• Are you interested in having a relationship that exists exclusively in the metaverse?

These questions have once been answered increasingly than 475,000 times over the past few months. Our data shows that while a portion of our users are unshut to exploring the metaverse, it’s really younger generations — Gen Z’ers, Millennials — who are most interested. So far, we’re seeing that 34% of singles would go on a stage in the metaverse, and Gen Z singles are the most interested in having a relationship that exists exclusively online in the metaverse.

This is only the whence of this trend. The metaverse is here to stay, and we visualize that increasingly and increasingly daters will uncork to explore dates and relationships in this volitional universe.

Don’t forget: The busiest day for online dating is almost here.

In 2023, Dating Sunday — the busiest day for dating apps out of the unshortened year — will take place Sunday, January 8th — and the unshortened month of January is a popular time to be matching. Based on January 2022’s numbers, worriedness on OkCupid this upcoming January could reach:

• 50 million total conversations
• 530 million Likes
• 40 million Matches

If you are single, dating, want a relationship, or anything in between, here are a couple of quick tips to optimize your wits and success on OkCupid.

Answer increasingly matching questions. Are you a Questions Pro (answered 30)? Enthusiast (answered 100)? Expert (answered 500 )? In January, daters answered our in-app matching questions 50 million times (an 11% increase from December 2021), and we visualize increasingly than 55 million responses in January 2023. The increasingly questions you answer, the increasingly uniform the matches you’ll see, and the increasingly you’ll have to talk well-nigh with them, too.

Don’t be hesitant to message first. Last January there were scrutinizingly 40 million first-messages sent on OkCupid, and we visualize a 10% month-over-month increase in January 2023. Women specifically are sending increasingly first-messages than they overly have in our app’s history, and it’s paying off. Conversations initiated by women on OkCupid last increasingly than double the length of those started by men as daters get to know one flipside on the app surpassing meeting in person.

Be honest well-nigh what kind of relationship you are looking for. When asked, the majority of 7 million people on OkCupid said they want their next relationship to last a few months to several years (41%) or the rest of their lives (37%). But if a unstudied hookup is increasingly well-flavored right now, 22% of respondents are looking for a one-night fling. Plus, increasingly than 7 in 10 (71%) daters said finding their forever person is increasingly well-flavored right now (compared to dating around).

Now that you’ve made it to the end of this blog post, it’s time to update your dating profile! People who well-constructed their OkCupid profile get 200% increasingly matches, so what are you waiting for? Download OkCupid today.

Media contact: MichaelK@OkCupid.com

The global state of digital dating was originally published in OkCupid Dating Blog on Medium, where people are standing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.