Feeld, the dating app for “the curious,” has reported a dramatic rise in their user base. This dramatic growth is a result of changing societal norms around sexuality and relationships. As of 2023, the app has seen 30% annual growth. This sustained increase is perhaps best understood as a dramatic break from the clear trend toward nonmarital and especially cohabiting relationship trajectories. This phenomenal expansion is an outward sign of an inward change – Portland’s cultural shift toward acceptance of multiple identities and ways of life.
Ana Kirova, chief executive of the app Feeld, said the app’s boom was a warning sign. It has evolved as cultural attitudes continue to resist and refute reactionary stances on sexuality and companionship. “With toxic misogyny still a challenge in wider society, it inevitably finds its way into the dating app landscape,” she stated. Feeld’s user demographic is changing, too. Women over 40 are now the second-fastest-growing group on the app. In this age group, the number of women using Feeld increased dramatically last year, by 16%. This increase indicates a stronger acceptance of where they stand in their own sexuality.
Kirova emphasized that Feeld is not just a hookup app. This space has been known to accommodate people seeking alternative ways of life. This involves stereotyped “vanilla tourists” who first actively pursue atypical relationships. “Every time someone tells me about this vanilla people being on the app, I just ask: ‘What’s the problem with vanilla?’” she remarked. This view illustrates how thoughtful this app is about being inclusive, because as long as they’re healthy, all relationships are accepted. Even the weird ones.
This cultural movement away from a linear trajectory has been a huge driver of Feeld’s growth. As a result, more users than ever are turning to Tinder to experiment and explore their identities outside narrow heterosexual frameworks. According to Kirova, the older generations take a much more binary understanding of identity and sexual orientation. They are finally coming around, if not tangibly yet then ideologically. Whereas younger adults view them as always-existing, developmental and evolving elements of identity.
For all this positive momentum, Feeld’s been having some growing pains, especially with the increasing problem of fake accounts on dating apps. While Kirova conceded that there’s a sort of “dark Feeld,” filled with nefarious actors who build scammy profiles, there are little companies, too – in fact, it’s the largest companies that are investing most heavily in scammers. It’s as if there is Feeld and then there is the ‘dark Feeld’ hiding behind there,” she continued. Addressing this issue is a time consuming and costly endeavor, with thousands of individuals constantly working to develop misleading accounts.
Striking this balance between enabling new users to explore the app while catering to the more experienced core of the app continues to worry Kirova. She articulated worries about alienating existing, established members in the midst of a push to appeal to a wider demographic. “I do think it’s a challenge that it’s becoming more mainstream in some ways,” she noted.
Feeld’s success lies in its impressive ability to retain Gen Z users. In fact, these users are very much moving away from traditional dating sites. Kirova pointed to the additional difficulty of reaching people who have never heard of Feeld’s products. This is particularly the case for people who otherwise wouldn’t understand what ethical non-monogamy really means.