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Move over fleabagging, cuffing and ghosting, and all the others we can’t keep track of – there’s a new dating definition in town.
Not content with merely saving the world, Greta Thunberg is now also influencing our dating lives.
“Thunberging” is a definition coined by dating website OkCupid where potential lovers bond over their shared enthusiasm for environmental issues, and so is suitably named after the world’s most famous climate change activist.
The website said it has seen a 240% increase in mentions of climate change and other environmental terms on dating profiles in the last two years. And interestingly, in 2019 there was a – wait for it – 800% increase in mentions of Thunberg specifically.
Figures from OkCupid’s survey also revealed that 51% of respondents in 2019 ranked climate change as the most important issue to them, up from 34% of respondents in 2009 and 2014.
Meanwhile the company’s in-app question asking people if they are concerned about climate change was one of the most answered questions of 2019.
With climate change becoming a major talking point globally, we’re finding more and more people’s passion for the planet is becoming a steamy subject
Unsurprisingly, women appear to be more concerned about the state of the world than men, according to the survey. It showed that 88% of Gen Z women and 79% of Gen Z men are concerned about the environment.
Meanwhile 87% of millennial women and 82% of men in the same age group are concerned about climate change.
And 80% of Gen X women are concerned about climate change, compared to 74% of their male counterparts.
“With climate change becoming a major talking point globally, we’re finding more and more people’s passion for the planet is becoming a steamy subject,” a spokesperson for OkCupid says.
“It’s no surprise to learn that young Gen Z and millennial daters care about climate change, but within the last year alone, these singletons are matching on the basis of this topic more than ever.”
The spokesperson added that in developing term it was “highlighting the impact she (Thunberg) has had on younger generations around the world… Who better to represent this powerful movement towards climate change activism than Greta herself?”
If you’re feeling confused about dating etiquette, there’s a helpful guide to all the most important terms here.
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