# Hinge's 'Slowmance' Report: Marketing Spin or Genuine Insight? > By DII Data Team | Published: 2024-07-08T00:00:00+00:00 | Section: Data & Analytics | Source: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/hinge-lgbtqia-daters-emotional-intimacy-slowmance | Publisher: Dating Industry Insights (High Intent Media Inc) Hinge claims 81% of LGBTQIA+ users prefer slow dating. Is it genuine insight or just a retention strategy? ## Key points - Match Group reported that Hinge reached 1.4 billion dollars in annual revenue in 2024, making it the fastest-growing property in Match Group's portfolio. - According to Hinge survey data, 81 percent of LGBTQIA+ Hinge users prefer establishing emotional intimacy before rushing into relationship commitments. - Match Group shares have fallen 63 percent from their 2021 peak, whilst Bumble shares have dropped 80 percent from their initial public offering high. - Stonewall's 2024 workplace report revealed that 35 percent of LGBTQIA+ employees in the UK remain un-out to anyone at their place of work. ## Article - 81% of LGBTQIA+ Hinge users say they prefer building emotional intimacy before rushing into commitment - Hinge reached $1.4B in annual revenue in 2024, making it Match Group 's fastest-growing property - 58% of queer daters want to keep new relationships private until confident about their longevity - Match Group shares are down 63% from their 2021 peak as the dating app industry faces valuation collapse Hinge has released its annual LGBTQIA+ report claiming that queer daters are embracing "slowmance" — taking relationships at a measured pace rather than rushing into commitment. But peel back the marketing messaging and you'll find something more interesting: a dating platform with every commercial incentive to keep users engaged longer, rebranding cautious dating behaviour as a bespoke trend. The question isn't whether slowmance exists; it's whether dating platforms will actually build features that serve this behaviour, or just extract its marketing value. Couple holding hands showing intimate connection ### Product Marketing Dressed as Sociological Insight This is product marketing dressed as sociological insight, and the transparent self-interest doesn't mean the underlying behaviour isn't real. Hinge needs to differentiate itself in a crowded market where Tinder still owns fast-paced matching and [Bumble](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/bumble-lawsuit-over-preventable-data-breach) claims intentionality. Giving LGBTQIA+ users a branded framework for slower relationship progression serves Hinge's retention metrics whilst genuinely reflecting anxieties that queer daters navigate daily. The timing is hardly accidental. Match Group disclosed in its Q4 2024 earnings that Hinge had reached $1.4B in annual revenue, making it the company's fastest-growing property. That growth depends on converting users who might otherwise churn to [Grindr](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/Malaysia-blocks-grindr-blued-websites) for efficiency or abandon apps entirely for Instagram DMs and Discord servers. Positioning Hinge as the platform for people who want to "take it slow" creates product differentiation without requiring actual feature development. > Asking Hinge users if they prefer intentional dating is like asking Waitrose shoppers if they value quality ingredients. The data itself warrants scrutiny. Hinge surveyed its own user base, a self-selecting cohort who've already chosen a platform that markets itself as "designed to be deleted" (though apparently not too quickly). The 81% figure tells you more about who downloads Hinge than it does about how LGBTQIA+ people broadly approach relationships. ### What the Data Actually Reveals Strip away the terminology and the survey captures something genuine: the specific pressures queer daters navigate that their straight counterparts largely don't. The 58% who want privacy before going public aren't simply being coy. They're calculating whether a new partner is worth coming out to family again, whether they'll need to disclose the relationship to HR, whether their social media followers will respond with support or hostility. Two people in conversation building emotional connection These aren't abstract concerns. According to Stonewall's 2024 workplace report, 35% of LGBTQIA+ employees in the UK aren't out to anyone at work, and 18% have been the target of negative comments about their identity from colleagues in the past year. Taking a relationship slowly isn't just about emotional readiness; it's risk management. The relationship structures that queer communities have developed over decades — chosen family, non-monogamy, friendships that blur into romance — require negotiation that straight dating's established scripts don't demand. When 67% of Hinge's LGBTQIA+ users say they want to discuss relationship expectations early, as the report claims, they're not being precious. They're being pragmatic. > Slowmance isn't just a trend; it's a revenue model. What Hinge has done, quite cleverly, is package that pragmatism as a lifestyle choice that happens to align with longer session times and sustained engagement. The platform benefits when users take three months to decide whether to commit rather than three weeks. [Slowmance isn't just a trend](https://gcn.ie/slowmance-trend-lgbtq-daters/); it's a revenue model. ### The Broader Positioning Play This isn't the first time dating platforms have attempted to define cultural trends that validate their product direction. Bumble spent years promoting the concept of "healthy relationships" as a differentiator, then watched its share price collapse 80% from its 2021 IPO high as growth stalled. Grindr has oscillated between embracing and distancing itself from hookup culture, recently adding relationship-seeking features whilst its revenue model still depends on location-based proximity matching. The post-[Tinder](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/tinder-names-vccp-uk-social-agency) era has left every major platform searching for a defensible positioning. With the industry's valuation collapse — MTCH down 63% from its 2021 peak, BMBL trading below its IPO price — operators need narratives that justify continued user acquisition spending and investor confidence. "We're the platform for people who want to take it slow" is a much easier sell to VCs than "we're another swiping app with declining engagement". Smartphone showing dating app interface For LGBTQIA+ users specifically, the positioning carries additional weight. Dating platforms have historically served queer communities poorly, treating them as afterthoughts or segregating them into separate apps. [Hinge's decision to commission annual LGBTQIA+ research](https://hinge.co/en-gb/newsroom/2024-LGBTQ-Report) and centre queer narratives in its marketing represents meaningful investment, even if the research methodology is self-serving. The test will be whether Hinge actually builds features that serve slower relationship progression, or whether slowmance remains marketing copy. Does the algorithm reward users who take conversations off-platform for weeks before meeting? Does the interface accommodate complex relationship structures beyond the monogamous couple default? Can users filter for partners with compatible timelines around visibility and commitment? Without feature development, slowmance is just another hashtag. With it, Hinge might actually deliver on the differentiation it's claiming. Either way, expect every major platform to announce its own branded relationship trend within six months. The race to define what "intentional dating" means — and who owns the language around it — is already underway. - Watch whether Hinge develops actual product features supporting slower relationship progression, or whether slowmance remains purely marketing rhetoric without algorithmic or interface changes - The broader dating app industry faces a positioning crisis as valuations collapse — expect competitors to launch their own branded relationship trends within six months as platforms scramble for differentiation - For investors, the real metric is whether rebranding cautious behaviour as "slowmance" translates into sustained user retention and revenue growth, or whether users eventually migrate to platforms with features that actually serve their needs ## Key takeaways - Dating app operators must move beyond marketing concepts by engineering explicit algorithmic features and interface filters that support slower relationship progression. - Investors need to evaluate whether positioning platforms around intentional dating improves long-term retention and monetisation across Match Group, Bumble, and Grindr. ## FAQ ### How much revenue did Hinge make in 2024? Hinge reached 1.4 billion dollars in annual revenue in 2024, making Hinge the fastest-growing property owned by Match Group. ### What is the Hinge slowmance report? The Hinge report is an annual study showing that 81 percent of LGBTQIA+ Hinge users prefer building emotional intimacy before committing to relationships. ### How much has Match Group stock fallen since 2021? Match Group shares have fallen 63 percent from their peak valuation reached in 2021. --- Canonical: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/hinge-lgbtqia-daters-emotional-intimacy-slowmance Citation: "Dating Industry Insights" (https://www.datingindustryinsights.com)