Is speed dating the new Tinder for Gen Z?

With online dating apps seeing a decline in users, is old-fashioned speed dating being swiped right for Gen Zs looking for love?

"People don't want to waste three weeks to find out if someone isn't as funny as they seem or they don't look the way they do on their profile," said Lissy Cleminson, of Slow Dating - one of a number of dating firms seeing a rise in face-to-face events.

Some under 30s singletons at an event in Hampshire told the BBC that taking love offline was a chance to get out and meet new people - in the flesh, as well as embrace something different.

Although Gen Zs use online dating tools more than any other age group, after soaring in popularity, following the arrival of Tinder in 2014, user numbers are now falling.

Speed dating is a matchmaking event that enables eligible singles to meet potential partners in a very short space of time.

"Traditionally speed dating is three minutes," Ms Cleminson explained.

"However, we give you four minutes, hence the name Slow Dating."

She said the firm had seen a 12% increase in planned events every year for the past four years.

Almost five million people used online dating services in May, according to a new report from Ofcom.

But the four most popular dating apps in the UK - Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and Grindr - all lost UK users between May 2023 and May 2024, the report shows.

Tinder users dropped by 23%, Bumble users fell by 26% and Hinge, which has the youngest user base, experienced a 9% drop.

Mariko Visserman, a psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex who studies romantic relationships, said people were getting dating "burnout".

"People have choice overload - so they see a lot of options swiping through and I think it takes a lot of energy to actually keep swiping," he said.

"And we even know from research that what people think they want in a partner is not very predictive... of who they actually end up matching with."

Tom, from Portsmouth, said he had attended speed dating events before and would recommend them to anyone thinking of giving them a go.

"It's just a great way of meeting people in general and connecting with new people," he said.

"You just have to be yourself and let things happen."

Sam, from Winchester, said the world of modern dating could be "very tiresome".

Of speed dating he said: "You don't have to spend ages talking to someone to get a vibe.

"You get that right balance of a few minutes of getting to know someone, who that person is, their personality and their mannerisms," she added.

Miss Visserman said: "Speed dating is a really efficient way of getting to meet someone face to face.

"So try and take your online dating offline as quickly as possible".

"Online dating can be great, it's just up to us how we use it".

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