Indian dating app, QuackQuack's current study on the subject reveals that 36 per cent of daters between the ages of 18 and 25 are inclined towards finding connections through small and meaningful everyday gestures
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There is a new trend buzzing in the online dating world- micro-matching, and GenZs are all for it. The trend is redefining how people connect online, shifting the focus from a broader level of compatibility to a more micro-level.
Indian dating app, QuackQuack's current study on the subject reveals that 36 per cent of daters between the ages of 18 and 25 are inclined towards finding connections through small and meaningful everyday gestures rather than grand ones that are quite common in the initial stages but tend to fade in the long term. Daters say that the trend does not quite replace the grand romantic gestures as much as it complements them.
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The study has been conducted among 12,000 GenZ app users across urban, suburban, and rural India to gather an overall perspective on the trend. Respondents were asked to share preferences, personal experience, opinions, and outcomes while engaging in micro-matching. Participants of the study were primarily students, working professionals, and job-seekers.
The app's founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, commented, "We wanted to understand how the trend affects user satisfaction and the entire relationship dynamics. As we understand from the insights, micro-matching is evidently deepening connections and has improved the quality of interaction, even at the initial stages."
Niche matching
Following the micro-matching trend, more than 31 per cent of users from Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities disclosed prioritising niche-based matches over appearance-based ones. Micro Interests are what seals the deal for these dates- from the love for street food to more specific interests like obsession with K-drama or plant parents with a separate love for succulents- these ultra-specific preferences have now become a dealmaker in the online dating world. 24-year-old Nihal from Chattisgarh said, "I am a movie buff, but I specifically love exploring gothic horror movies. So once I put that in my bio, I got a match that shares the same passion. Conversations just kept flowing with her."
Better connections
The study shows that micro-matching practice has substantially increased the quality of connection. QuackQuack shared a rise in chat time among the participants following this trend. Around 29 per cent of women above 22 reported that focusing on specific interests has allowed them to continue a conversation for a longer period and not get diverted to superficial talks. They also said the trend helped them jump directly into topics they both enjoy instead of spending hours figuring out a common point of interest. Akash and Meena, a QuackQuack couple from Mumbai, shared how their love for music transitioned into impulsively buying tickets for a much-awaited concert in the city and finally meeting there in person. Akash said, "The entirety of my relationship I owe to our common love for music."
Gender dynamics in micro-matching
The insights show an interesting difference in how genders approach the trend. While 41 per cent of women expressed their inclination toward hyper-specific compatibility checks with their potential matches, only 23 per cent of men follow the same approach. The study revealed that women are the biggest contributor to the trend, whereas 1 in 6 men thought of it as another additional criterion, making dating more complicated and over-thought-out than organic.
The two sides of the coin
Connections formed through micro-matching show a longer lifespan, and these couples reported a more satisfactory relationship. More than 16 per cent of the users between 20 and 25 from metros and suburbs described their relationship as more fulfilling, citing a better understanding of each other's outlook as the prime factor.
On the flip side, 11 per cent of daters feel overwhelmed by the hyper-niche-based dating style. Shalini (19), an engineering student, commented, "I don't want to reduce finding love to something like online shopping for a partner, setting multiple filters. I actually like the stage of slowly getting to know each other and randomly finding common things we love." Some participants also cited that this tendency of hyper-specificity might lead to missing out on great matches that, unfortunately, did not meet that particular criteria.
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