- Gen Z is leaving Tinder for other dating apps
- Match Group, which owns Tinder, has found that Gen Z users are looking for a “low-pressure, more authentic way to find connections.”
- This dating app lags behind Bumble, Hinge, Grindr, OkCupid, and more
Downloads of Tinder are declining, even though Gen Z is “twice as likely” to use dating apps to meet potential partners.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 46% of online daters say they have used the app, which is down more than a third from Tinder's peak annual downloads in 2014. are doing.
However, as Gen Z gets more involved in dating, the number of people using dating apps continues to decline.
Match Group, which owns Tinder, reported that paying users fell by 8%, or just under 10 million, last year.
The app, which was first released in 2012, has lagged behind other popular apps such as Bumble, Hinge, Grindr, and OkCupid, which more than doubled in downloads in 2023.
Tinder has long been known as a dating app since its release, but people's interest peaked over a decade ago, but people have since drifted away.
According to Match Group's recent quarterly earnings report, the company found that Gen Z users are looking for “low-pressure, more authentic ways to connect.”
“Gen Z is not the dating generation that everyone expected us to be and touted,” one TikToker said, adding that this entire generation is looking to break away from dating apps.
Singles in that age group looking for meaningful, long-term connections are turning to Hinge instead, according to data.ai.
Some people turn to apps like Grindr and HER, which are dedicated to the LGBTQ community. All three apps have managed to maintain a stable user base over the past few years.
Although Tinder has slowed down with Gen Z, it remains Match Group's biggest app in the US.
“Since our launch, we've had more than 530 million downloads, and more than half of our users are between the ages of 18 and 25, including Gen Z,” a Tinder spokesperson told CNN. Ta.
Match Group also owns other popular dating apps, including OKCupid, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, BlackPeopleMeet, Match.com, and over 30 other applications.
The company's market capitalization was $10.43 billion, surpassing Blackstone Group Inc.'s Bumble's $2.58 billion.
According to a Pew report, adults under 30 are nearly twice as likely to be recent or current users of a dating app than millennials over 30.
A total of 40% of Americans use apps to meet their spouse or long-term partner, the report concludes.
Another study by the American Lifestyle Research Center found that Gen Zers are more likely to form relationships with people they meet offline.
Around 40% of young people said they were friends with their partner before becoming romantically involved.
Last year, Tinder took the growing shift into its own hands, launching a Gen Z-specific marketing campaign across U.S. college campuses.
The campaign, known as “Tinder U,” is an in-app feature that allows users to better connect with each other beyond college.
Bumble also changed its priorities after seeing a similar trend among users interested in the “low-pressure dating” scene.
“One in three Bumble users in the U.S. say they're actively cutting back on the number of dates they go on to protect their mental health, saying they're 'slow on dates,'” said a spokesperson for the dating app. A representative said in the 2024 Dating Trends Report.
“This number was slightly higher for Gen Z and Millennials, and lower for Gen X and Baby Boomers.”
Social media users who have been directly affected by this change in online dating among their peers have not shied away from their personal views on the declining trend.
“We're starting to realize that these apps are only trying to keep you as a customer, not help you fall in love,” TikTok user Isabel Brown said in a recent video. I think so,” he said.
Another user, Taylor Reynolds, had some advice for Gen Zers who use dating apps like Raya, Hinge, and Bumble.
Reynolds explained how she changed her bio to “Invite me for coffee, not drinks” after deciding to quit alcohol.
“The quality of the men and the quality of the conversations since I started this job has been amazing.”
“We had a conversation that was 10 times more engaging and interesting than any I've ever had on an app, and I couldn't have even talked to her for a minute,” Reynolds added.
Another user confessed that he continues to use the dating app as a “social calendar” and asks people he meets about what's going on in the area.
