Be prepared to swipe left, Tinder users. The last thing you want to do is match with what seems like the perfect person, only to learn their deal-breaking secret — they're actually off the market.
It turns out that singles are not the only people actively using the popular dating app. A recent survey has found that many Tinder users are married or in relationships.
Market research firm GlobalWebIndex did some probing into things we should know about Tinder. According to its survey of over 47,000 Tinder users, the firm found that a shocking 30 percent of people on the dating app are married, and 12 percent are in relationships.
GlobalWebIndex also found that Tinder is mostly populated by men, outnumbering women 62 to 38. Most of the married users are men.
54 percent of users identify themselves as single on the dating platform, whereas three percent are divorced or widowed.
While we may automatically assume the worst from these men, Tinder's president and co-founder Sean Rad defended them, saying that the mobile dating app is also a "social discovery platform" — so these husbands and boyfriends could just be looking for new friends.
"We never intended it to be a dating platform. It's a social discovery platform, facilitating an introduction between two people," said former CMO Justin Mateen in February 2014.
These already-taken-in-real-life users could be browsing for platonic relationships, they could be in open relationships, or they simply haven't deleted their account since beginning an exclusive relationship.
And even though it appears as though Tinder is the virtual stomping ground of married men, the app's users are mostly younger people. The research shows that 38 percent of users are between the ages of 16 and 24, and 45 percent are between 25 and 34.
But before you worry that some of your matches will be underage, Tinder executives have called these results inaccurate. A Tinder rep said that over 50 percent of users are ages 18 to 24, and altogether 85 percent of users are 18 to 34.
With more than six billion matches made globally, you could well meet your future husband on Tinder — just make sure he isn't already married.
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Photo: Sharon & Nikki McCutcheon | Flickr
