Tinder Australia is diving into the latest trends in dating with its new ‘It Starts With a Swipe’ campaign, which it describes as “a celebration of modern dating milestones and a romantically stylised reflection of the dating experience today”.
As a part of the campaign launch, the dating app has revealed some of the most notable trends Tinder users have revealed of late. We also spoke with Tinder’s Global CMO, Melissa Hobley, about some of the most interesting learnings about dating right now – especially in Australia.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Tinder Australia dating trends: What’s the latest?
We’re shedding rigid ideas around dating terms
One of the most interesting findings that Tinder Australia highlighted in the ‘It Starts With a Swipe’ campaign launch was that terms like ‘situationship’ and ‘hook up’ no longer represent what they once did. Casual, pressure-free dating interactions are becoming less shameful, and, granted all parties are comfortable with the arrangement, folks are increasingly seeing the situationship as a potentially positive experience.
Hobley explained that “You have words like situationship, which can be negative or positive, depending on the context.”
And that a lot of the freedom to interpret that term however it suits you comes largely from Gen Z rejecting negative connotations with these kinds of concepts.
“…I think the deeper meaning around that is women reclaiming and rejecting like the slut shaming” that past generations have lived with,” she continued.
In terms of trends, and what people are leaning towards right now, it’s pretty split. Tinder Australia’s data indicates that 31 per cent of polled folks were looking for a long-term relationship, 26 per cent were still figuring it out, and only 14 per cent were looking for a short-term connection.
Folks are feeling positive about dating!
How bloody refreshing. Maybe it’s the return to post-pandemic life. Maybe it’s the end of La Niña. Whatever it is, Tinder users who participated in this latest survey were overwhelmingly feeling positive about dating.
Per Tinder Australia’s report, “84 per cent of people polled said they’re hopeful and optimistic when it comes to dating and relationships, showing an openness to possibilities that come from making new connections”.
Hobley added to this, sharing that while that doesn’t mean dating isn’t hard, people have seen dating on the apps work time and time again.
“[Dating] It’s so hard. It’s really hard, right? It is… until you meet your person. And then it was all worth it, right? That’s what you’re looking for. And maybe you’re looking for a Saturday night. Every Saturday night, you’re like, ‘Oh, alright… Kiss a few frogs. And then I got this guy or girl or person.’”
She continued:
“I was in at a conference in Miami this week, and I asked the room, ‘Who here knows someone that’s in a committed relationship/married/living together that met on Tinder?’ And like 80 per cent of the room raises their hand. And so, part of the optimism is, you know someone that’s found their person through an app.”
People are dating intentionally
Intentionality in dating is something that has been floating around for some time now. But the long and short of it is that people want different things, and they’re being upfront and respectful about that.
Hobley explained that Gen Z, in particular, are increasingly open about their values and their views, and they display them openly in the dating space. More than ever before, it’s encouraged that you bring “the things you care about to your Tinder profile”.
This also bleeds into openness about what you want from the dating experience, she shared.
“I think several years ago, people were really scared to be like, ‘I’m looking for something serious’… being like, ‘Oh, I look desperate, or, I don’t want to put that out there’. And now you see it at every age group.”
And that’s a hugely freeing thing; to feel safe to express what you want (whatever that is) and begin your dating journey from a place of real honesty.
If you’d like to read more about dating, check out our write-ups on the more undervalued and overvalued qualities we tend to recognise in potential partners.
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