On the first Sunday of the year, countless singles reach for their phone and start swiping. We unravel ‘Dating Sunday’, Tinder’s biggest day of the year, and talk to a few singles about why they’re heading back on the apps in 2025
The common discourse among my single friends in 2024 was that apps are dead. Or if not dead, then at least in some zombie fugue state – a sort of latent evil that refuses to die. But with a new year upon us and “Dating Sunday” coming up in two sleeps, there seems to be a renewed optimism about swiping. Oh, you’ve never celebrated Dating Sunday? It’s the first Sunday of the year, on which swiping activity hits its peak.
It would appear that among common New Year's resolutions like “go to the gym” and “get my life together” is “go back on dating apps”. Tinder reports that on Dating Sunday, there are 10 per cent more matches and 20 per cent more sent messages when compared to the daily average over one year. What’s more, Tinder users are 12 per cent more likely to initiate a conversation on this newly-minted holy dating day.