Date hunting? You better know your Yerba from your Mojito, says Tinder’s year end report

• If you do pilates and champion the cause of the LGBTQ+ community, chances are you may get more likes than others.
• Young daters are now looking at experiences and stories from their dates – not necessarily looking for any outcomes.
• During the year 2023, feminine energy was dominant with most users on Tinder listening to female pop stars than their male counterparts.
  

If you are single and looking to hook up, then you better know your Yerba from your Mojito. And if you are into anime, dog walking or horror movies, chances of you snagging a date are that much higher. After three years of lockdowns, GenZers are more zen when it comes to trending emojis. Blame it on the pandemic or early enlightenment, this always-on generation prefers sharing yerba and rosary emojis to express their zen state of mind. For the uninitiated, Yerba is a milk based drink made with antioxidant rich plant extracts.

Every generation has its own rules and lingo when it comes to dating and so do the 20 somethings of today. But their lingua franca has become more chill and less woke than it was a couple of years ago. Tinder, the world’s leading dating app, released its Year in Swipe Report for 2023 that shows what moved the cheese of singletons in 2023. Here’s a fun fact: Dogs in profiles will get you more clicks than cats.

If you do pilates and champion the cause of the LGBTQ+ community, chances are you may get more likes than others. Last but not the least, girl power is the new superpower. The anthem of the holiday season in Tinder bios is Mariah Carey’s All I want For Christmas. Tinder has found that users with Mariah Carey All I want for Christmas in their profiles increases by 365% the chance to get a like during the holidays.



Overall, the year 2023 was about positive vibes and self improvement through meaningful connections. Now the naysayers may laugh at this but it seems the GenZers want meaningful connections too, hook ups aside. And music plays a big role in finding inner balance. A big ask of most daters was not any specific outcome, but good stories and experiences. This change in mindset is called NATO – Not Attached To an Outcome.

Young singles are focusing on the connection and are N.A.T.O (not attached to outcomes). Over a quarter (27%) of 18-25-year-olds using Tinder’s Relationship Type feature say they are “open to exploring”, and 22% using the Relationship Goals feature say they are “still figuring it out”. In India, a similar trend emerged where a quarter (25%) are “open to exploring”, and 65% are “still figuring it out”. So taking an open approach allowed them to meet new people without closing themselves off from all the possibilities that come from putting yourself out there.

Says Melissa Hobley, Chief Marketing Officer at Tinder. “It’s so exciting to see the data at Tinder shows that 69% of Gen Z want to challenge conventional dating and relationship norms. This year in particular marked a major shift where the journey is more important than the outcome. This new generation of daters is showing us what it means to date for the possibilities, freeing themselves from traditional expectations, allowing them to write their own, worthwhile stories.”



Here are the top trends that defined online dating In 2023:

#1. Delulu is the only Solulu

This generation of young daters have made peace with the fact that having high expectations from their dates may lead to disappointment. Be it a bad date or having little money to get by, this generation prefers not to know the hard facts of life. But at the same time, they embrace their own delusions rather openly without any shame. Yes, if you are wondering what delulu is then it is their version of delusional. All of us are ‘delulu’ in our own unique ways and nobody embraces it better than GenZers.

In fact, this generation’s anthem is – “delulu is the only solulu”. Solulu means solution. For the uninitiated, this translates into – embracing your own idealism or obsessiveness about something is the solution. This generation has found ways to make light of toxic relationships to its forever “broke” status. Broke here is a state of being that is devoid of money. It is the GenZ version of ‘ignorance is bliss’.

#2. N.A.T.O dating – The diplomatic approach

During the year, Tinder found across the globe that young daters no longer want an outcome from their relationships. Young singles are focusing on the connection and are N.A.T.O (not attached to outcomes). In fact, over a quarter (27%) of 18-25-year-olds using Tinder’s Relationship Type feature say they are “open to exploring”, and 22% using the Relationship Goals feature say they are “still figuring it out”.2 In India, a similar trend emerged where a quarter (25%) are “open to exploring”, and 65% are “still figuring it out”.3 So taking an open approach allowed them to meet new people without closing themselves off from all the possibilities that come from putting yourself out there.

Singles fully embraced “main character energy” in 2023. They ditched the pressure of rushing to a “happily ever after” in favor of using the dating process to build a roster of new experiences and memories that bolstered their own personal stories. This refreshingly optimistic and lighthearted approach to making new connections took the pressure off establishing relationship labels and outcomes, leaving more room for self-exploration through dating. The shift to utilising dating as a source of self-fulfillment gave rise to the top dating trends of the year.

#3. Dating for the Plot

This dating trend is more about the journey and less about “the end” in 2023. Singles were open to meeting new people to have new experiences and fun stories to tell, rather than taking a traditional goal-oriented approach. ”Dating for “the plot” has been buzzing on Tinder globally, with a 5.5x increase in users using the term in bios like, “Everything I do is for the plot, let’s make some memories.”

Chandni Tugnait, Life Coach and Relationship Expert partner with Tinder India says, “This year we witnessed a shift in dating with young singles becoming the authors of their own romantic narratives. For them, it was more about letting experiences unfold naturally without the weight of expectations, rigid plans, and labels. Doing it for the plot encourages young singles to embrace openness to new experiences and say yes to opportunities they might otherwise overlook. Shifting away from outcome-focused dating, this reflects a move towards viewing the dating journey as a path to self-discovery, not just a checklist for commitment.”

#4. Move over male pop stars, Taylor Swift is trending

Feminine energy boomed around the world in 2023 and inevitably found its way onto Tinder. Taylor Swift was crowned the top Spotify artist on Tinder, Miley’s revenge bop “Flowers” was the 4th most popular Anthem added to profiles, and Rihanna fans showered her with support with a 52% spike in her songs being added to profiles following her performance at the big game1. Even when sharing their holiday spirit users turned to no other than Mariah Carey, whose “All I Want For Christmas” sees an average increase of 365% on profiles each holiday season 1.

In fact, all through the year, female pop stars were more favoured than their male counterparts. Also, reflecting pop culture and the power of music in bringing people together, the buzzy anthems topping on Tinder all came from powerful female pop stars, like Taylor Swift, Miley, and Rihanna.

#5. Time, the most valuable currency

Stack dating, multi-dating, alphabet dating - it was all about being mindful, getting organised, and taking the situationship to the next level in 2023. In fact, 51% of surveyed young singles said they were open to new ways of fitting dating around their daily schedules. Singles refused to waste time this year. According to Tinder data, over 50% of young singles globally and in India used Tinder’s Love Styles feature to say they preferred time together' over the other love styles.

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