To find a partner in time for Valentine’s Day, some singles scour dating apps at a frenzied pace

Dating apps are at their busiest from January to Feb 14. Among the singles looking for love are those who are desperate to spend Valentine's Day with someone. Photo: 123rf.com

For many singles, the prospect of spending Valentine’s Day alone is an annual source of anxiety. As such, lining up one date after another in order to find a partner for the big day has become a course of emergency action in the dating world. Dubbed “avalanching”, this unfortunate habit involves frantically burning through match after match, even if it means lowering your standards.

Dating apps are at their busiest in January, and even up to Feb 14. Among the singles looking for love are those who are desperate to spend Valentine’s Day with someone. To find a partner, they frantically scour as many dating apps as possible to make sure they get a date for the big day.

According to a study conducted by the app, Finding The One, and reported by Indy100, 79% of the 800 singles surveyed said they were more active on dating apps in January, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day – the most depressing time of the year for three-quarters of them. And to ensure that they spend Feb 14 with someone, just under half admit to being less demanding than usual, particularly on criteria related to age, location and appearance.

According to dating expert, Sylvia Linzalone, the frenzied rush of avalanching is not a viable and healthy response to finding yourself single in the New Year.

“There’s the additional risk of feeling disappointed if those extra efforts that people put into finding a date for Valentine’s Day don’t come to fruition,” she told Indy100.

She also warns singles against engaging in too much messaging on dating apps, saying that it often proves useless in the search for a suitable partner.

“These days, dating apps have become just another form of social media, with extensive messaging and comparatively little face-to-face contact. It’s time to switch these two around and focus on real-life meets instead if you really want to make a change in your love life in 2024,” she told the news website. Instead, the expert recommends “intentional” dating, where you don’t have to sacrifice your principles to find love. – AFP Relaxnews