Around 1.4 million people in the UK have left the online dating scene in the last 12 months, but is that a sign that the apps aren’t working or that people are abandoning dating altogether?
Ofcom’s Online Nation 2024 report shows that dating app usage declined significantly between 2023 and 2024, with usage across the top 10 most popular dating apps falling by almost 16% this year.
Tinder saw the biggest loss, with more than half a million users leaving the platform since May 2023. Bumble and Hinge were also hit hard, losing 368,000 and 131,000 users respectively in the same period.
According to researchers at the Center for Love, Sex and Relationships (CLSR) at the University of Leeds, a contributing factor to the decline in online dating could be a feeling of detachment from reality and fatigue in the process.
Natasha McKeever, a professor of applied ethics at the university and co-director of the CLSR, believes people see virtual dating as a task to be done, rather than a social activity.
“It gets tedious and you feel like you’re doing administrative tasks, like you’re not connecting with anyone and you’re just trying to communicate with people,” he says. “You see it less as talking to real, individual people and you start to see it as just cards in a deck.”
McKeever says this feeling of disconnection means people feel more comfortable sending abusive messages because they don’t fear the repercussions they would face in person.
“I think a lot of people see it as a game, they interact in a way that they never would with people in real life, because they’re behind a screen and they don’t have to deal with the consequences of shitty behavior.”
While the appetite for virtual dating has waned, data shows that usage of queer-oriented apps and sites has remained stable, with most being used as much as before, if not more.
Besides Badoo, one of the most used dating apps in the world, with a large market in Brazil, the only app that saw an increase in users was Scruff, designed for men looking for men. Other LGBTQ+-oriented apps, such as Grindr and Squirt, saw a smaller drop in users than more commercialized platforms.
Sophie Goddard, professor of applied ethics at the University of Leeds, believes the queer community’s continued use of dating platforms is due to the fact that the apps are “more accessible to those who don’t feel safe being visible or ‘offstage’ in physical queer spaces” while creating a place for people to experience and better understand themselves.
“Dating apps can also serve as a space to experiment with sexual orientation,” Goddard said. “For those questioning their sexuality, dating apps can provide a space to experiment with self-presentation outside of heteronormative spaces.”
Another reason for the drop in interest is the monopolization of dating apps in the UK. Of the 7.27 million users of the top 10 apps in 2024, more than half used apps operated by Match Group. The company owns the two most popular dating apps of the year, Tinder and Hinge, as well as the websites Plenty of Fish and Match.com.
Luke Brunning, co-director of CLSR, said modern digital dating gave users the illusion of choice, but people were realizing there was little difference between the platforms.
“We’re presented with an apparent choice, we’re told there are all these different apps, different social media accounts, different influencers and sponsorships that advertise them, but ultimately they all belong to or work with a few massive companies.”
Brunning said the handful of companies that controlled the online dating market were “very non-transparent about their business practices and algorithms,” which he believes is representative of the current problems with online dating.
“I think in many ways the nature of online dating reflects today’s user experience. You have the illusion of a wealth of options, but in reality, nothing feels different and nothing feels real.”