Tinder year ender: How Gen Z changed dating in 2019
Mike Gunzleman discusses a new study about ditching photo filters and the length of summer vacation.
When it comes down to who is looking for love on Tinder, Gen Z took over the swipe-focused dating app. These users between the ages of 18 and 24 represent the majority, according to a December press release from Tinder, which is impressive for the platform’s 7.86 million usership in America.
Along with a shifting demographic, Tinder’s atmosphere is changing to reflect the interests of these young daters. Here is a glimpse of how Gen Z shaped Tinder in 2019 and what the future may hold with this politically minded group.
In November of last year, Tinder introduced its “Swipe Surge” feature, which boosts activity up to 15 times in busy areas. The feature is helpful in favorable high-traffic conditions like popular spring break destinations or music festivals.
According to Tinder, activating Swipe Surge could yield a 250 percent increase in matches and fulfilling conversations with potential partners 33 percent faster.
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Surprisingly, Los Angeles and New York didn’t make Tinder’s top 10 list of cities for the fastest-growing Swipe Surge activations.
Most cities within the American Sun Belt snagged spots on the top Swipe Surge list, including North Carolina, California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. Philadelphia was the single Pennsylvanian city that served as an outlier in 2019.
Atlanta stayed true to its nickname “Hotlanta” with the highest number of users looking for quick connections via Swipe Surge. Orlando, Florida, San Diego and Dallas were close runners-up.
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Tinder users are all about pop culture and entertainment, which is fitting for a dating platform. The topics that trended the most were in music, film and television. Tinder found that its users mentioned Billie Eilish, Lizzo, the Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X’s hit song “Old Town Road,” Captain Marvel and Elizabeth Warren frequently in their bios.
Tinder suggested that this may be due to users wanting to find a partner with shared interests or obsessions.
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Tinder users weren’t above dabbling in celebrity drama. Kylie Jenner’s ex-best friend Jordyn Woods became a trending topic in 2019 for getting intimate with NBA player Tristian Thompson – who is also known as Khloe Kardashian’s on-again-off-again boyfriend.
Regardless of whether “girl code” was violated, Tinder users were invested in the scandal and made sure to list it in their bios.
Politics also snagged two spots on the top 10 trending topics. Presidential candidate Warren was a frequent mention along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s ambitious environmental reform known as the Green New Deal.
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Other political figures that were mentioned regularly but didn’t quite crack the top 10 list include Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Greta Thunberg, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Robert Mueller and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Tinder’s study found that Gen Z mentioned political causes like “climate change,” “social justice,” “the environment” and “gun control” more frequently than the Millennial generation.
Millennials were three times more likely to talk about travel in their bios.
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Additionally, anyone that’s looking for love on Tinder should use the app in the summer. June was the month with the highest number of daily matches in 2019, which Tinder suggested may have to do with the end of the school year.