Over the last decade, the dating game has changed dramatically. Today, dating has almost become equivalent to online dating. A few years back, meeting someone was really for outgoing people; that has changed. QuackQuack Founder and CEO Ravi Mittal commented, “We saw a surge in the number of online daters over the last few years. We have 600,000 app downloads per month and over 19 million users today.” To understand this shift in the dating pattern and people’s preferences, QuackQuack surveyed 15k users from all over India.
Young Daters Cheer Online Dating!
57% of people prefer online dating over the classic meeting someone at a party, in the office, or bumping into someone at a coffee shop. Survey shows young daters from Indore, Lucknow, and Bhopal, between 25 and 30, are now exploring their options in dating apps, rather than using matrimonial apps like people preferred 4 to 5 years back. 43% of people believe that online dating apps are replacing the charming meet-cutes that most hopeless romantics at heart crave the most.
What women think
Interestingly, there’s a growth in female users from the Northeast post-pandemic. 52% of women from small cities like Shillong, Imphal, Guwahati, and Agartala find the modern dating scenario much friendlier than its classic counterpart. They say it is much easy-going where women are free to be more upfront about what they want, and people, in general, can be a bit selfish and consider “what’s in it for me.” While most picked modern online dating as the clear winner, 42% of women complained about the “death of romance” with the rise of online dating apps. They expressed that modern dating lacks creativity and is often not organic.
Taboo? Not anymore!
The survey shows that 64% of women from Jammu and Rajasthan find the modern dating scene more liberating. QuackQuack has seen a spike in female users from these cities where dating was once almost considered taboo. They expressed that the age-old notion of men making the first move is no longer valid with the shift to online dating. Women are bolder and happier and are reaching out first, asking men out on dates, which was not as common in classic dating. Wooing was a man’s game; clearly not anymore.
Weighing the Pros and Cons
55% of people between the age of 25 and 30 believe the most notable accomplishment in the modern dating field has to be the liberty people now have to reject someone they don’t find interesting. Just chuck them if they don’t float your boat. With the same argument in place, 45% of the daters labeled modern online dating as a numbers game and pointed out the rise of discard culture. Even if 99% of a person is impressive, that 1% is enough to unmatch them. Giving a person one shot is not in the scheme of things of modern dating like it is in the classic dating scenario. They seemed to think that the more you consider dating as a numbers game, the more burnt-out you will feel.
World of Instants
34% of men over 30 from Mumbai and Goa complained that modern dating is all about instant relationships. Everything has to be happening now, with barely any pauses. In comparison, classic dating gives you the scope to know a person and fall in love slowly and steadily. You don’t just have to depend on their dating profile bios, but get to know them in person.
Options or One too many Options?
51% of people from Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochi, both working professionals and students, mentioned that modern or online dating offers people a myriad of options. You no longer have to settle for whoever is available and depend on your luck or, worse, your friends and family to hook you up with some random person who happens to be single at the same time as you. What seems like a valid point was countered by 49% of classic dating enthusiasts as dating apps open too many doors, and no one seems enough. The possibility of meeting someone better- taller, sharper, better dressed, more beautiful- ruins the falling head over heels for someone.
The survey showed people divided in the preference of finding their partner but united in their ultimate aim to find the one!