Dating during the past two years has been one hell of an experience. From finding love during lockdown, navigating how to date post-lockdown, the emergence of voicefishing and to vaccine date or not to date – the list of trends in this ever-changing dating game are endless.

The evolution of the pandemic and the chaos that comes with it means we’ve all had to get comfortable with dating outside of our usual comfort zones and adopt a new form of dating as the landscape continues to change from what we used to know pre-Covid.

Luckily for us, there is a way to get ahead of the curve on what the latest dating trend is while swiping left and right.

Dating app Hinge has revealed its four data-backed dating predictions to watch out for in 2022 – and the results may come as a surprise to you.

Emotional equality

After the last two years, prioritising your mental health is more important than ever and daters aren’t accepting anyone who isn’t doing it.

According to Hinge, 83% of UK users would prefer to date someone who goes to therapy – and you’re more likely to get a second date if you mention going to therapy on a first date. Yet only 9% of UK Hinge users feel comfortable bringing up therapy on the first date.

As a result, the dating app predicts that more users will be open about their mental health journey early on in 2022.

Power of audio

In 2022, Hinge predicts that we will see more people embracing audio and wanting to hear someone’s voice before matching as 64% of users said voice was an important factor in determining whether they liked someone.

The research also found that people are two times more likely to match with someone if they like a voice prompt – as opposed to a regular prompt or photo – and people will continue actively using this feature in their dating journeys as another way of gauging attraction.

Booster boomers

With the new Omicron variant and booster rollout across the UK, Hinge predicts that users will continue to proudly share their vaccination status on their profile. Research shows that users who indicate that they’re vaccinated receive 30% more matches and the app thinks those who share their vaccine status on their profile will get the most success in terms of the number of matches and getting out on great dates. 

Relationship go-getters

The dreaded situationship is something that many people have experienced in their lives – so much so that one in three Hinge users experienced a ‘situationship’ in the past year, and 62% report feeling disappointed about it.

In 2022, Hinge predicts more singletons will be upfront about their goals from the outset and move on swiftly if people don’t match their dating intentions.

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