Does FOMO set in among singles as the viral wedding season approaches? New survey says more

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As the temperature drops, new survey by a dating application has shared some unique shifts in dating patterns during this time of the year, calling it the season of "phera pressure", revealing higher than usual activities, a sudden urgency to find the one- leading to some unexpected great connections and some mistakes, and more such notable dating behavior.

The insights for this report by QuackQuack come from a comprehensive study involving over 10,000 app users between 18 and 35. The data collected from in-app behavior analysis, online polls, survey feedback, and trend observations across Tier 1, 2, and 3 Indian cities shows over 39 per cent of users send the highest number of first messages during winter. For an all-round perspective, survey participants were chosen from various fields- IT, healthcare, sales and marketing, finance, teaching, social media content creators, vloggers, and a significant portion of students, job-seekers, and previously employed individuals taking a career break. The app's founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, said, "Every year, we make a note of any seasonal shifts, trying to adapt and evolve accordingly for better user satisfaction. This time of the year, there is an undeniable FOMO among singles as the wedding season has started and we can see it in the spike in profile interactions."

Perfect match panic
3 in 4 users, especially ones in the 28 to 35 age bracket, are noted to display an increased urgency in finding a romantic partner before the year wraps up. Participants revealed feeling the pressure of partnering up before the wedding season begins. 30-year-old Veena said, "There's peer pressure as your friends and even juniors start getting hitched, and then there's family pressure. I matched with more people in the past two weeks than the entire year." The survey also showed that 3 in 5 women make informed decisions regardless of the rush, but 9 per cent of men reported making impulsive choices because of FOMO.

Rishta rush
QuackQuack revealed that user activities have started rising from the last week of October. A significant driver of the traffic is the "Rishta Rush", with users feeling the pressure as their social media feed fills up with marriage proposals and wedding photos. 12 per cent of male and 14 per cent of female users updated their bio with "looking to get married" and "looking for serious matches" in the last few weeks.

Comfort matches on the rise
With the weather growing colder, QuackQuack users are hunting for emotional warmth, leading to 26 per cent comfort matches. The chats are longer and more meaningful for most of these daters, exploring topics ranging from travel plans to marriage plans. Priyank from Punjab said, "At first, towards the end of October, all my matches were hurried, and the compatibility was tanking. I overestimated some people, and that was because I was under pressure to find someone ASAP. But once you take one or two missteps and realize not all relationships will stand the test of time, you will finally make the right choices, and they will be the best ones. At least, that's what happened to me."

Return of the exes
19 per cent of daters from Tier 1 and 2 cities between 18 and 28 admitted to reconnecting with an ex-match. Nostalgia, holiday sentimentality, and a touch of the phera pressure emerged as the primary motivators. Shivani (28), a content creator from Bangalore, said, "I rematched with a guy I stopped interacting with last year. I am sure I wouldn't have done it any other time of the year. But now, there's an unlying anxiety to settle down. Nevertheless, I would say that reconnecting with him was a good idea. There's more in common between us than we knew last year." 4 in 7 daters also noted that they never go back to ghosts; that's where the line is drawn.