QuackQuack: How Gen Z and Millennials Navigated Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day 2025 brought a mix of romance, skepticism, and shifting dating behaviors, as revealed in a new press-released survey by Indian dating app QuackQuack. The platform analyzed responses from 13,400 active users aged 18 to 35 across 12 Indian states, uncovering key trends that shaped the way different generations approached the day of love – following on from a previous survey about their user base’s feelings ahead of the day itself.
According to QuackQuack’s Founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, activity on the app surged in the days leading up to February 14, but matches and chat lengths dipped on Valentine’s Day itself. While Millennials embraced nostalgia by reconnecting with past matches, Gen Z showed a more contradictory attitude—criticizing the commercialization of the day while still actively seeking companionship.
A growing segment of Gen Z daters took an anti-Valentine’s Day stance, seeing it as overly commercialized and high-pressure. Over 12% of respondents between 18 and 25 voiced frustration with the expectation of expensive gifts and grand gestures.
Despite criticizing Valentine’s Day as outdated, Gen Z users were highly active on dating apps – or, if not dating apps, then social platforms that still provided a way to either meet up with friends or find quick dates in their local area. QuackQuack’s data showed that while some planned last-minute dates, others arranged platonic meetups with friends. Only 9% of younger daters skipped the day entirely.
For Millennials (28-35), revisiting old connections was a dominant trend. Many revived dormant conversations with past matches, leading to a noticeable spike in chat activity. According to QuackQuack’s data, 17% of men and 11% of women planned Valentine’s dates with rekindled matches, often finding better compatibility than with newer connections. This would have included users potentially returning to older matches on dating sites.
Singles and those in undefined relationships rushed to find dates early in February, but by Valentine’s Day, many shifted to prioritizing genuine friendships over forced romantic connections. Meanwhile, 2 in 7 users who had been engaging with a single match for over three weeks explored new connections right before Valentine’s Day, potentially meaning a spike in dating app usage even among users who had previously been dedicating their time to one potential future partner.
While Gen Z continues to challenge traditional Valentine’s Day expectations, their dating behaviors still reflect a desire for connection – even to the point of increasing their dating app activity ahead of the day itself, regardless of whether or not they’re already focused on specific matches. With Valentine’s Day being such a recent event, there will still be plenty of users that are carrying that momentum forward into finding new matches for the rest of February, or beyond.
