To make sense of it all, Zoosk reviewed dating from more than 40 million members, and reviewed the biggest dating trends of 2017. What’s in: lunch dates, higher education, nice guys, guac. What’s out: sluggish messaging, mocking vegans, too many filters. Check out the highlights below.
#1 Nice Guys Finish First
Finally, we can put that old adage to rest. Men who use words like thoughtful, listener, polite, giving, community, give back, or friendly in their profile get up to 66% more messages than the average. A man who calls himself a knight in shining armor could score up to 67% more messages with his chivalry.
#2 Filter At Your Own Risk
Narrowing your search criteria may seem like an obvious way to find the kind of partner you’re looking for faster, but a Zoosk study found the opposite to be true. Subjects who used filters to find their matches sent out more messages, but received 11% fewer replies than those who turned them off.
#3 Age Is Just A Number
Singles are increasingly happy to date outside their age range. Zoosk members were 9% more likely to like, message, or have a conversation with someone ten years older or younger than them in 2017 than they were in 2016.
#4 Schooling Is Sexy
Another reason to slog through all those midterms and homework assignments: people who have a bachelor’s or advanced degree are seen as more attractive by online daters, and receive up to 17% more replies to their messages.
#5 Your Favorite Eats Could Be An Icebreaker
Food had an unexpectedly positive influence on romance, according to a Zoosk study. Singles saw an increase in inbound messages when they mentioned certain foods, particularly chocolate, potatoes, and the king of all Millennial foods, guacamole.
#6 Vegans And Vegetarians Have Gone Mainstream
Speaking of food, the stigma against vegans and vegetarians is gone at last. In 2015, messages that mentioned being vegetarian received 100% fewer replies than the average. But in 2017, dropping the V-word got 3% more replies. The other V-word also saw a serious boost: people who mentioned being vegan in their profile got 62% more incoming messages than average.
Want to know which cities have the chattiest daters? Or how long you should wait to reply to a message? Visit the Zoosk blog for more findings from the 2017 review and to find out more about the dating service check out our Zoosk review.
