It’s been over a year since I’ve freed myself from the current dating market.
I can’t say I miss it; tales of ghosting, breadcrumbing, and demands for a responsibility-free “girlfriend experience” are far from overblown.
Perhaps those are some of the reasons why, per Bustle, dating apps are “in their flop era” among Gen Z and Millenials.
79% of recent college grads don’t even open the apps once a month, Axios reports.
That might explain why brands like Bumble are attempting to change their identity; but if Forbes is to be believed, the 20- and 30-somethings aren’t the ones reaping the most benefit from the apps to begin with.
What age does best on the apps?
Per a OnePoll/Forbes Health study that looked at 5,000 US adults, the most successful (read: most likely to convert matches into romantic relationships) were well out of their 20s.
In fact, a whopping 72% of those aged between 43 and 58 stated that meeting on an app led to something serious. That put them ahead of all other age brackets.
Perhaps less-than-shockingly, men were more likely across all age ranges to find an exclusive partner from the apps than women (75% vs 66%).
It may be no wonder, then, that the study found 68% of men felt positively about dating compared to 55% of women.
As for why older people tend to do better on apps, tech entrepreneur Lon Sakfo, author of The Social Media Bible, told Forbes in a different article that “While the Baby Boomer Generation gets older, many are becoming single again.”
“The reduced fear of technology and fear of meeting someone over the Internet has resulted in 29% of seniors having been on a date with someone they met online through a dating website,” he added.
How is everyone else doing?
A 2023 Pew Research Centre study found that only 10% of married or cohabiting couples met their partner online.
But while older people tend to have a better conversion rate (so to speak) on the apps, they’re on them less overall.
The Pew study showed that 53% of those under 30 have ever used a dating app, while only 37% of 30-29-year-olds and 20% of 50-to-64-year-olds can say the same.
But despite all the horror stories, on average, more people like the apps than don’t ― 53% say their experiences with the apps have been partly, or totally, positive.
If you’re not among them, though, hey ― maybe just give it a few years.