OKCupid Finds Surge in Politically Filtered Matches

Dating apps in Washington, D.C. are becoming political battlegrounds as users increasingly filter potential matches based on ideological lines. With the United States seeing major political shifts in recent months – and even recent weeks – that have hardened the lines between different parties, dating app users have similarly locked down their limits when it comes to matches.

According to OKCupid data shared with Axios, only 45% of users in the D.C. area preferred to match within their own political party before last summer. That figure jumped to 51% following Trump’s re-election and spiked again to 58% after Inauguration Day, reflecting a notable shift toward politically homogenous dating preferences.

D.C.-based matchmakers say this trend is playing out in real-time on apps, where users are increasingly explicit about political boundaries. “Four years ago, five years ago, I was hearing, ‘Oh, I couldn’t date a Trump supporter,’” said matchmaker Kat Markiewicz. “Now it’s like, ‘I cannot date someone if they drive a Tesla.’”

On the other side, conservatives in D.C. are reportedly more willing to declare their affiliations openly. During Trump’s first term, some self-identified as “moderate” or avoided including any overt political details to avoid confrontation on apps with a more left-leaning user base. Now, more users are including photos with the president or in the Oval Office, reflecting a shift in confidence.

Regardless of any given person’s political status, it’s undeniable that these changes could have an impact on how U.S. users approach the dating experience going forward. Only time will tell if these boundaries eventually begin to blur again, or if these hard lines in the sand will become a long-term fixture of how dating apps need to operate.