A conversation with Melissa Hobley on the state of dating in 2026, the cultural shifts reshaping it, and what Tinder is doing in a world that has changed a lot since they first introduced “the swipe”.
Today we're sitting down with Melissa Hobley, Global CMO of Tinder - the app that invented the swipe and, in doing so, rewired how a generation thinks about dating. Fifteen years on, the cultural conversation has shifted dramatically.
Women are decentering romantic relationships, Gen Z is pulling back, and dating app fatigue is real. We got into all of it.
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Dating in 2026 looks really different from even five years ago. There’s dating fatigue, Gen Z is pulling back from apps, and there’s a renewed taste for meeting IRL. How does Tinder evolve without losing what made it iconic?
Things have changed and shifted. And what’s really interesting is how much connection still matters - you know, it’s food, water, shelter, and connection on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. We are in this era where we’re so connected to our phones, and yet we are starved for real connection.
What’s really hard about being at Tinder right now is that the challenges are also harder. We are spending more alone time than we ever have - the data exploded in Covid and never corrected itself. At the same time, Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t spending a lot of time doing the things that used to give you the muscle for friendships, let alone dating, flirting and romantic connections. Everything teenagers used to do in person is down 40 to 70% - sports, going to church or mosque or synagogue, coffee shop hangs, hobbies, it’s all down.
Which means by the time someone opens a dating app, they may not have had much practice at the basic human stuff that dating requires - approaching someone, keeping a conversation going or being a little vulnerable. That's the real challenge, not that the people don’t want to connect.
What does that look like in the product?
We’re in our comeback era. Double Date is probably the most exciting thing - bring a friend, match as a pair, and take the pressure off. The adoption rate with Gen Z women in Europe was so high that we thought we’d broken the app. 70% of users are Gen Z. It’s one of the most exciting launches in any dating app in the past 10 years.
Then there’s Astrology Mode - rising sign, moon sign, compatibility breakdowns, the whole thing. The girlies are experts, so you can’t half-do it. And we didn’t.
And we’ve completely rethought onboarding. Setting up a profile is vulnerable, especially when your social muscles are a bit rusty. So we’ve made it genuinely fun and easy.
What about IRL - you were testing events in LA in April too, right?
Yes. We have huge plans for IRL in 2026 that I can’t fully talk about just yet. But the thinking is the same: we know you want connection, it’s just harder. It’s harder because we don’t have the muscle.
It’s also harder because - and I think this is actually quite positive - women have really full lives now. You’ve started your own business, you’re an executive, you’re getting your PhD, you’re training for a triathlon, you’re writing a Substack, you’re busy. We’re not going to happy hours every night anymore, and that used to be how people met.
So we’re building third spaces. A run club, a dog walk, a concert where you just wish the single people were all in one area so you could talk to each other. No problem, we did it.
You work with anthropologists and sociologists to understand dating culture. What are you seeing right now that the rest of us haven’t caught up to yet?
One of the big ones is that our friends have always mattered, but now they matter even more. In our annual data, 42% of Gen Z singles say their friends influence their dating lives. And I’m sure it’s even higher for women, because we’re not making a move without our girlfriends.
There’s also a really beautiful continued rise in gender fluidity - the idea that your dating identity can shift day to day, and the technology needs to hold space for all of it. Laverne Cox and Gigi Goode (Tinder recently collaborated with Diesel on a capsule collection, and Goode was the face of the campaign) both have said Tinder is the only app they can use as trans women. We’re proud of that, but you’re never done. And for the queer community more broadly, there's less stigma than there used to be, and those are positive shifts we want to keep supporting at Tinder in every way we can. We still have a lot of work to go, everywhere, but the direction is right.
And then there’s something the academics are saying about what happens when societies become less religious - people don’t stop looking for something to believe in, they just look elsewhere. Astrology. Niche communities and fandoms. Sports. Understanding why people do things is the only way to build something that helps them.
There’s a big cultural conversation happening right now about women decentering romantic relationships and centring themselves, taking breaks from dating. How does Tinder think about its role in that, given the business literally depends on people wanting to find love?
It might surprise you to hear this, but when the “Is having a boyfriend embarrassing?” piece came out, I loved it. Because for so long, women have been defined by their relationship status above everything else, and I’m so glad it’s changing.
I’m from Indiana, and I remember being in my late twenties with this career I was so excited about. I had no connections, no money, I told myself I was going to out-hustle everybody, and I did. And when I went home, the only thing people got excited about was the boyfriend I’d brought with me. And I just thought: I have way more interesting stuff happening in my life than this guy.
What I think we should be pushing is this: your life is complete with or without a partner. And actually, the research backs this up - people who feel fulfilled on their own are more likely to attract the right person and build something healthy when they do connect. So this isn’t at odds with what Tinder is trying to do, it’s completely aligned with it.
I also get 100 wedding invitations a month and DMs every day from people who didn’t think they’d ever find their person, and then they did. Dating apps work, that’s just a fact. So our job isn’t to convince people they need to be dating. It’s to be there, and make it genuinely good, for when they are.
What does the future of dating actually look like - and what’s Tinder’s role in it?
I think the future of dating is more expressive, more fun, more personal, more respectful. We believe in connection. We believe in love. And we think it’s pretty exciting.
I also think we have to keep pushing conversations like the ones we’re seeing right now - build your life, that’s when you attract someone great. We’re seeing that on TikTok and YouTube, and I think those conversations matter.
And there are patterns out there that don’t help - particularly around male behaviour and what some men are consuming, especially with the rise of red-pill content. “How do we make men better?” is an actual conversation we have in the hallways at Tinder. Civilization hasn’t quite figured that out, but we keep trying.
The pendulum always swings. And when it does, I want Tinder to be there - making it a little easier, a little more fun, and helping you find someone great.
Liz Plank - her YouTube Boy Problems and her Substack Airplane Mode for great commentary on women, feminism, and dating.
I love “Pivot with Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway” for their takes on media.
I follow Esther Perel because her work on the loneliness epidemic and connection is super important.
Women wait until they have the experience to ask for the job or the promotion - men ask before they’re ready. Think like a man. Ask for more! Take the call from the recruiter. Go to the meeting.
I spend time outside of work on things that matter. Reproductive Access, LGBTQ Equity, and Supporting marginalized kids in NYC are three areas where I advise, sit on boards, and donate my time, network, and resources.
Put your f’cking phone down. Being the Global CMO at Tinder means I have these amazing folks who work with me all over the world, across every time zone. This also means I do something every day - I ignore my phone for a block of time every night. I spend that time usually with my two hilarious, amazing daughters. OR I’m at a dinner with girlfriends.
Always in my bag. My business card - it’s analogue, but I genuinely love connection, and I give out my card to folks who want dating advice, on their Tinder profile, on how to find their person. My card has my cell phone number on it, so it’s how I let people reach out to me. Oh, and red lipstick and black eyeliner!
Follow Melissa @melissahobley and Tinder @tinder.
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