New times, old habits. As Tinder runs out of steam, the dating app business is showing signs of fatigue and more and more people are giving up on dating onlineThose looking for a partner look to new horizons. And these often involve changing matches on a mobile screen through face-to-face meetings through formats such as speed dating or with a new twist reminiscent of the more traditional method of dating, slow dating. In-person presence recovers the ground that virtuality once took from it. HE matches surrenders to the appointment. And compared to conversations over coffee, screens lose interest.

New times, old ways of dating.

another way matches. concept speed dating It’s not new. It’s actually much older than Tinder or other dating apps. At the end of the 90s, the brand was already used by the Jewish educational organization Aish HaTorah, and long before that, meetings were organized with more or less a similar dynamic. speed dating. The dynamic is very simple and we have seen it repeated in many movies and TV series.

Participants are offered the opportunity to meet briefly with each other, chatting for just a few minutes, long enough for both parties to get a first impression of who they are. After the scheduled time for each date, organizers ask couples to rotate and each person starts a new conversation with another participant. Short conversations. And lots of rotation.

When speed dating At the end, each participant tells the organizers who they like the most, and based on their answers, connections are made for a new meeting.

So how do they organize these? through specialized intermediaries speed dating. And there are several. few days ago Hidden published a report that gives an insight into the extent to which the face-to-face speed dating format has spread across cities.

The focus is on Madrid, but only here three different organizers are mentioned: the Guiris de Mierda account and the companies Bedazzling and Cita2. A quick Google search shows that there are actually more firms dedicated to the same thing: hosting quick meetings of just a few minutes so you can get through the entire process speed dating Participants can meet potential partners.

Approximately 8,000 potential pairs. Jordi Martínez, director of Bedazzling, explains: Hidden He said the company has been organizing such events every month since 2018, with an average of 60 people attending per person. speed dating. He estimates that around 8,000 people have passed through his ‘meetings’ in six years. Others claim to have established this type of ‘macro dating’ for even longer. Of course, they don’t do this for the love of art (or the art of love). Those who take part pay around 20 euros to find their better half.

Beyond Madrid… The trend is not limited to Madrid. Again comes a quick search to find editing pages or accounts speed dating In Galicia, Andalusia, Valencian Community, Asturias, Extremadura… And the list goes on. Recently colleagues from Xataka Móvil were talking about Cites ràpides, a new platform in Catalonia with a similar focus. And he’s not the only one making it known speed dating In Barcelona. The idea is the same: matches… However matches personally.

…and beyond “speed”. And not all meet-ups follow the traditional model of casual conversations lasting just a few minutes. In the heat of apparent success speed dating Slow Dating Club emerged, describing itself as a “modern cupid” and organizing meetings that did not strictly conform to traditional norms.

“Love is a matter of luck, so we do tests and games in the evenings. Finally, if you like someone, you can write it in an envelope,” says founder Eva Sánchez, 28. The events are mostly aimed at people in their age group, are held every month in restaurants in Madrid, and the participation fee is 25 euros.

Is there a change in trend? apparent interest speed datingIt coincides with another equally relevant and very related phenomenon: the loss of steam of the dating app Tinder, which has achieved overwhelming dominance among singles in Spain, thanks in large part to a strategy that pivots on a different axis than Spain’s speed dating: virtual dating. Their partners remain but first contact, matchesComes with screens in between.

Data announced by Europa Press at the beginning of the year shows that Tinder continues to have an undeniable weight in the industry, with more than 1.5 million users per month spending an average of two and a half hours on the platform.

The report on which the agency is based also reflects that dating apps in general have a wide application in Spain, with more than four million users and platforms with a large and well-established community such as Badoo or Grindr. To put this plainly, the industry is showing some signs of a change in trend.

matter of age. The latest data published by Statista reflects that Tinder, for example, “did not have such an important role in the lives of Spaniards” last year, and offers a revealing percentage: 38% of users claim to use the app every two weeks. The study itself, cited by Europa Press, overlooks data that points to a possible generational shift.

Its authors examined some apps in detail and found that the use of these apps was prominent among users between the ages of 25 and 34. Things are different between old people and young people. In fact, soleros between the ages of 18 and 24 prefer direct dating through networks such as TikTok or Instagram.

A fact: 1.4 million. This phenomenon is not unique to Spain. This issue came to my attention last week. GuardThe UK-registered online dating app has published an article that explains exactly the recent ‘fear’ of its users.

Specifically, it is stated that around 1.4 million Britons have abandoned virtual dating platforms in the last 12 months. The data comes from an Ofcom report reflecting that usage of the top 10 dating apps has fallen by around 16%.

“Like the cards in the deck”. Tinder bore the brunt of this collapse. Its platform has reportedly lost more than half a million users since May last year. Bumble dropped 368,000 and Hinge dropped 131,000. Why? Possibly a certain sense of disconnection and fatigue, according to the Center for Love, Sex and Relationships (CLSR).

“You see it less as if you’re talking to real, specific people, and you start to perceive it as if it were cards in the deck,” says CLRS co-director Natasha McKeever. Another important point for him is the behavior of some users who behave differently in applications than in person.

Links to dollars. There are more indicators. And some are determined by aspects as concrete and measurable as user growth and dollar profits. Data from the industry’s two flagship companies, Bumble and Match Group, show that they have suffered significant losses in market value since 2021, with noticeable declines in the stock market since their best moments.

In the case of Tinder, Business of Apps shows that its growth in recent years has been more hesitant, although the general pattern of its revenue curve since 2018 has been clearly upward, reaching the highest annual turnover in 2023. This trend is seen more clearly when it comes to subscribers. It increased from 10.9 million in 2022 to 10.4 million in 2023. The latest quarterly data shows that number has decreased since the peak in late 2022.

But… Why? There are many factors at play. McKeever talks about feeling “boredom,” lack of communication, and how there are users on dating apps who act as if it’s a “game” in “methods they would never use with people in real life.”

Others point to the economic factor, such as sociologist Jess Carbino, who recently shared: Country Another key insight: “Gen Z is hesitant to pay for digital dating, largely because they are young and still frequent places where it is easy to meet people in person.” People like Sánchez, the organizer of Slow Dating Club, decided to shut down dating apps simply out of “disappointment” after a horrific incident. ghosting.

signs of change. It’s not all negative trends for online dating platforms. Over time, “niche” applications or applications for different profiles have emerged, precisely in order to meet the different expectations of users. Actually Guard He notes that Scruff, which focuses on men looking for men, has managed to gain users, while other apps targeting the LGBTQ+ community, such as Grindr or Squirt, have experienced small declines in users.

Tinder also organizes speed dating and Bumble’s CEO recently reassured Country He said the company had already implemented a “bold strategy” to achieve its goal of becoming “the leading global choice for those seeking love, friendship and community.”

Pictures | René Ranisch (Unsplash), Candy Goode (Unsplash) and Hendo Wang (Unsplash)

in Xataka | There is a trend that is gaining importance among Generation Z on Tinder: Flirting without even a drop of alcohol.