Dating Sunday 2024 – How to Find Love on the Busiest Day of the Year

It’s back, and Dating Sunday on the first Sunday of the new year, will be busier than ever, so get ready for an enormous surge in activity on dating apps on January 7, 2024.

For singles focused on their resolutions lists, often finding love is on the top after a holiday flying solo. Between being questioned by family members during the holidays about your relationship status or being a victim of Breakup Season, the two weeks leading up to Christmas, it’s time to push the restart button and start anew.

New profile signups, swapping old photos for new ones, and activity will surge like dating apps are on digital steroids this Sunday.

With off-the-charts activity, the world’s largest digital love fest should peak around 7 – 9 pm local time and remain strong throughout January.

It’s peak season for singles searching for love on dating apps, as it’s just shy of six weeks until Valentine’s Day, often compared to the Super Bowl of online dating.

Take a deep digital breath, and let’s get started with our deep dive into Dating Sunday.

Dating Sunday by the Numbers

Here’s what you can expect on five popular dating apps on Dating Sunday.

Tinder

Tinder reports users respond on average 19.4 minutes faster than on other Sundays of the year.

They also expect the number of messages sent to be 22% higher than the rest of the year, with the number of likes (a heart or a right swipe) at 18.2% higher than the rest of the year.

During their Peak Season of January 1 – February 14, 2024, 2,263 new photos will be added to Tinder profiles every minute, and you’re only as attractive as your least attractive photo, so make sure you upload 5-6 of your very best photos.

Tinder’s data shows the world’s largest dating app expects 11.4 million more messages during peak season, and 58.7 more likes compared to the rest of the year.

Dating Sunday Tips: Photos matter. Verify your profile to receive a blue tick icon on your profile that shows potential matches it’s really you. State your relationship goals on what you’re looking for. You can select from one of these six relationship types: long-term partner, long-term, open to short, short-term, open to long, short-term fun, new friends, or still figuring it out.

RELATED: Digital Matchmaker Tips to Finding Love Online

OkCupid

OkCupid’s State of Digital Dating report shows the entire month of January is a great time to match on their question-filled app. 

OkCupid expected January of 2023 to hit over 50 million total conversations, with over 530 million likes and over 40 million matches.

Dating Sunday Tips: Answer more of their thought-provoking questions to be matched with compatible singles to create instant ice-breakers on like-minded topics and issues. (Answering 500+ questions puts you in the expert status on your profile). View your Likes and Super Likes to speed up your search.

Match

A Match 12th annual Singles in America study showed that 73% of singles are looking for a lasting relationship, with only 10% saying they want to date casually long-term.

Previously, Match narrowed the exact minute of peak activity on Dating Sunday to 9:05 pm/ET.

Last year, Match expected more than a 70% increase in new singles joining on Dating Sunday, with over 1 million messages being exchanged daily through Valentine’s Day. (Over 55 million messages during peak season). 

Dating Sunday Tips: Be open to a long-distance relationship. Expand your search, and don’t be married to your zip code. Match reports over 50% of their users are open to having a relationship with someone who lives more than three hours away. Check out the Highlights feature curated daily with potential matches, and take action to “like” them to speed up your search.

RELATED: 15 Dating Resolutions – A Digital Cheat Sheet for Finding Love

Bumble

A Bumble Trend report also shows that singles are willing to connect in multiple cities.

Thirty-three percent of daters revealed they’re more open to relationships with someone who lives in another town or state.

Dating Sunday Tips: View Bumble’s “Best Bees,” their daily curated match suggestions based on your activity. Click on the diamond icon at the bottom of your profile to view your Best Bees. You’ll get one free like a week, so I recommend using it on one of your favorite Best Bees. Upgrade to Premium+ to use their travel mode feature before you leave on vacation and increase to unlimited likes. Like Tinder, verify your profile and request a match do the same.

Zoosk

Zoosk also predicts a busy Dating Sunday, with millions of messages expected on their app on January 7th. Zoosk’s “Magic Hour” for peak use will be 8 pm local time.

Dating Sunday Tip: Be proactive and make the first move. Ask a question, and don’t say “hey.”

In an interview with USA Today, I explained, “You have people recovering from a breakup or who were down during the holidays, you have all those New Year’s resolutions, and you have the clock ticking down to Valentine’s Day.”

Authenticity is key to finding a match. Don’t be coy, or play the waiting game. You can binge your favorite shows on Monday, but on Sunday night, make sure the battery on your mobile phone is charged and ready to go. 

Happy liking, swiping and matching. 

xo Julie

Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert. She’s an award-winning dating coach who’s been helping singles find love online for 25+ years. Follow @JulieSpira on IG.