10 Tips for Dating Sunday

The first Sunday of each January is known as Dating Sunday, the day dating apps typically experience the highest traffic of the year.

Source: Makyzz/Getty

This January 4th, are you ready to go forth and date? The first Sunday of January is known as "Dating Sunday." Every January, on the first Sunday of the month, dating apps typically experience the highest traffic of the year. Devyn Simone, Tinder’s resident relationship expert, called it the "Super Bowl" or the "Grammys" of dating; she advised, "If you are single and looking for a partner, utilize Dating Sunday."

You could say that many singles are more likely to be on a dating app on this day. For example, Hinge indicated that on Dating Sunday 2025, its users experienced a 31.2 percent increase in likes and 24.5 percent increase in messages compared with the average Sunday in 2024. Tinder: The number of matches on its platform increased by 6 percent, while the number of messages increased by over 10 percent above the typical daily averages.
Here is a general breakdown of other apps:
Match: 4 percent jump in matches and 53 percent more messages
OkCupid 23 percent more matches and 12 percent more messages
Upward at 30 percent more matches and 36 percent more messages
The League: Members to send 34 percent more messages

I have already covered in "A Funny Bone To Pick" reasons why dating apps tend to experience such surges on Dating Sunday—one big reason being singles acting on their New Year's resolutions to find partners. Of course, if you are single and looking, dating apps may or may not be right for you. But if you do choose to partake in Dating Sunday, here are 10 tips offered by Simone and Logan Ury, Hinge’s lead relationship scientist:

1. Update Your Dating Profile

Before facing the surge of other singles, check the face that you'll be showing—namely, your dating profile—and make sure it's current. "If you're using the same photos that you've been using for the last four years, probably swap them out," Simone recommended. She also suggested sharing updated insights, for example, "I'm moving to the new year, here are the things I want to emphasize or want to work on within myself."

2. Keep Your Profile Short and Sweet

Your dating profile isn't supposed to be a novel like Lord of the Rings Go to White Castle or 500 Shades of Grey. "Keep it short and sweet, no one wants to read the encyclopedia," Simone urged. "You can say, 'Hey, we're in 2026, these are the things I'm excited for, and this is what I'm leaving behind in 2025. If any of that sounds interesting to you, send me a message.'"

3. Highlight Your Values and What You Are Looking For

You wouldn't go to the supermarket looking specifically for a fruitcake yet tell everyone there that you are interested in hot dogs, would you? Similarly, Simone recommends, "Highlight your values, what you're looking for, as now people are much clearer about what they want, what matters to them." This includes the type of relationship that you are looking for, since people on the app may be looking for all sorts of things, ranging from just casual sex to getting married like yesterday.

4. Don't Put Pressure on Yourself to Be Funny

Here's the funny thing about being funny. It doesn't always come across well in certain contexts, especially when seemingly forced. Ury has suggested thinking of what you post as "conversation starters" instead. Your humor may then naturally come through in subsequent conversation.

5. Have Fun

While being funny may not be necessary, it's good to have fun throughout the whole process. "Have fun, be interested, not just interesting," emphasized Simone. "Ask questions of the person that you're getting to know. Worst-case scenario, you get to know someone new, but you get to decide that you don't want to have a relationship."

6. Carve Out Time on Sunday and Get Comfortable

Simone also suggested clearing out enough time and enough comfortable space for Dating Sunday. Physical comfort can translate to greater comfort on the app, which comes through to others. Avoid swiping and messaging while on the run, on the toilet, or in a Medieval rack. Simone said, "You can put on your favorite show and do it in the same room with your friends."

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7. Keep Your Friends Updated

Just because you are single doesn't mean that Dating Sunday should be a singularly solitary experience. "Chat with your friends and keep them connected, keep them up to date," Simone emphasized how your friends can offer guidance, support, security, and protection—because not everyone out there is an upstanding citizen.

8. Keep an Open Mind

If you've tended to date only certain types of people, how's that been working out for you? Simone urged to keep an open mind, "Love often comes in a package that you don't expect, and it often may come when you least expect it." Don't let superficial criteria such as certain appearances and backgrounds hold you back. Ury, for example, has suggested making at least "small tweaks—like adjusting your distance or age range" to expand your possibilities.

9. Follow Up and Respond To Messages Promptly

This isn't the time to be coy, Roy. Don't play games. "Don't just swipe right to someone and then walk away," Simone warned. "Carve out time to keep conversations flowing. You don't want to lose that momentum because if you match on that Sunday and then don't open your app again until two weeks later. A lot could happen in those two weeks."

10. Temper Your Expectations, Don't Expect Perfection

Dating Sunday may be the Super Bowl Sunday of dating apps in some ways, but not all ways. It's not a do-or-die, win-or-lose situation. Dating Sunday is more like Black Friday in November—an opener to the peak dating app season that stretches from January 1 through February 14 (Valentine's Day). It's a season when Tinder, for example, tends to have 10 million more messages and 40 million extra "Likes" per day than average. Don't get too nervous and aim to be perfect. In other words, don't try to force things on January 4th. Just be yourself and go forth.