Dating in Your 20s: Straight answers about dating in your twenties. No hacks, no rules, no pretending you didn't reread the text nine times.
Is it a situationship, or am I overthinking it?
Pick up where you left off
Friends and datingTheir friends don't seem to like you. Now what?The group chat goes quiet when you join, or someone keeps 'forgetting' to invite you. Research says friends' approval does matter to how couples fare, but a cold first month is not a final verdict. Here's how to read it and what to try.Up next
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Dating nowIs long distance worth it in your 20s?
SituationshipsThey want to take things slow. How long should you wait?
Dating nowThey cancelled the second date. Still interested?
Topics
Trending Experts
See all- Credentialed source
Alexandra H. Solomon
Relational self awareness, dating and building lasting relationships, drawn from her couples work and her Northwestern course.
Watch: Relational Self-Awareness: The Key to Navigating Modern Love
- Trending voice
Blaine Anderson
Dating coach for men who talks about dating app profiles, first dates, and how women experience modern dating.
Watch: Blaine Anderson (Dating Coach) on TYSO, #318
- Credentialed source
Justin J. Lehmiller
Research on sex, desire, casual relationships and friends with benefits.
Watch: 10 Questions About Sex
By the numbers
53%
of adults ages 18 to 29 have ever used a dating site or app.
Pew Research Center, 2023. 6,034 U.S. adults, July 2022.
67%
of Gen Z singles have used AI in their dating lives.
Kinsey Institute and Match, Singles in America, 2026. About 5,000 U.S. singles.
78%
of recent dating app users have felt burned out by the apps at least sometimes.
Forbes Health and OnePoll, 2024. 1,000 U.S. adults who used a dating app in the past year.
1 in 3
unmarried adults ages 22 to 35 are actively dating.
Wheatley Institute and Institute for Family Studies, 2026. 5,275 unmarried U.S. adults ages 22 to 35.
Worth reading elsewhere
See allPew Research Center, 2023
The who, where and why of online dating in the U.S. (opens pewresearch.org)Survey numbers on who uses dating apps, which ones, and why, with a close look at adults under 30.
NPR (Life Kit), 2020
The art of breaking up, from 'the talk' to moving on (opens npr.org)Practical guidance on ending things kindly and on what helps in the weeks after.
NPR, 2024
Our quest for romance through dating apps is only making us lonelier, studies find (opens npr.org)Reports on studies linking heavy app use to loneliness, useful if swiping has started to feel worse than not dating.
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