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title: Tinder: Almost Half of Users Aren&#x27;t Even Single
description: New research shows a significant percentage of users are married or in a relationship
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og:title: A Creepy Amount of Tinder Users Aren&#x27;t Even Single
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twitter:description: Check out this new research before you swipe right
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# A Creepy Amount of Tinder Users Aren't Even Single

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8" -->
## Video: A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now

[Watch (HLS stream): A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8) (3:13)

![A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uJFYIrvP/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-08-20. A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium._


by 

[Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/)


## Sarah Begley


Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:49 AM UTCPublished: May 8, 2015 11:25 AM UTC

by 

[Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/)


## Sarah Begley


Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:49 AM UTCPublished: May 8, 2015 11:25 AM UTC

Next time you’re matched with someone on Tinder, don’t hold your breath that it could be your soulmate: [New research](http://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/what-to-know-about-tinder-in-5-charts) has revealed that 30% of Tinder users are already married and almost half aren’t even single.

The data from GlobalWebIndex (GWI) shows that only 54% of people on the dating platform are “single,” while 3% are “widowed/divorced.” Another 12% are “in a relationship.”

Tinder released a statement Friday disputing the GWI’s findings.

“The results of this tiny, 681 person study in the UK is a totally inaccurate depiction of Tinder’s userbase—this firm is making guesses without having any access to real data on our millions of users worldwide,” the statement said. “Here are the facts: the single largest age group on Tinder, making up more than half of our entire userbase, is 18-24, and 93%+ of them have never been married according to the UK’s Office of National Statistics. Without revealing any data about our users, simple logic should reveal that it’s essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate. Their methodology seems severely and fundamentally flawed.”

GWI points out, though, that its finding of a high number of married users could mean Tinder’s CEO Sean Rad was right when he called the service “not just a dating app but a ‘social discovery platform.'” Then again, maybe Tinder could be a gateway drug to the dating site for cheaters, [Ashley Madison](http://time.com/3120241/ashley-madison-cheaters-site-spies-on-its-users/).

### Photographing a Kiss: Long Time Love Affairs

![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc21faa27b7d19533/69877f0f55a8594c00a85cc7/lauren-fleishman-lovers-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Joseph and Dorothy Bolotin Sharon, Pennsylvania Married on June 16, 1938\. Dorothy, "I never think of it in terms of years. I think of it in terms of good years. In love, hot romance doesn’t last forever. So I would say that yes, I think love changes. I would say we’re still in love. It’s focusing, doing little things. He’s an amazing man." Lauren Fleishman


![John and Sherma CampbellStar Valley, WyomingMarried on May 13, 1955Sherma When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but lovegrows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte46288ccda7c07b6/69877f10f887dcb5dae8a152/lauren-fleishman-lovers-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

John and Sherma Campbell Star Valley, Wyoming Married on May 13, 1955\. Sherma, "When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but love grows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this stage of the game, I love him even more. I can’t even imagine life without him." Lauren Fleishman

![Jin Lin and Lai Mei ChenBrooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961Jin Lin We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteacea0c344d76ece/69877f103c16394906451c00/lauren-fleishman-lovers-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jin Lin and Lai Mei Chen Brooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961\. Jin Lin, "We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same." Lauren Fleishman

![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bd849c47110c7b4/69877f108e06011e8445a467/lauren-fleishman-lovers-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

de'Spagnolis Aldo de’Spagnolis and Maria Filiozzi Itri, Italy Married on October 23, 1949\. Aldo, "When I first saw her, she was 14 and I was 22.Was there a concern that she was too young for me? No! Even now I look like a young child! Yes, even now I’m still young." Lauren Fleishman


![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt527b8d663fcadf94/69877f11cd1bbacbb26f530a/lauren-fleishman-lovers-6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jake and Mary Jacobs Solihull, England Married on April 27, 1948\. Mary,"Jake said to me,'Would it ever be possible for me to marry you?' And I said,'Possible but not probable!' And that’s how it was. It wasn’t likely that I would ever marry him, and he knew that. So when he went home to Trinidad, my mother and father breathed a sigh of relief. But he used to write, and he said, 'I’m thinking I might come back to England.'" Lauren Fleishman

![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b2a5c3903c9b31b/69877f113c16395be8451c04/lauren-fleishman-lovers-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Kissin Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin Brooklyn, New York Married on June 29, 1941\. Yevgeniy, "We met at a dancing party. It was in January 1938\. My friend invited me to the party, he said there would be a lot of beautiful young girls. Another cadet with high boots had approached her, but she didn’t like high boots and so she said no to him. I was the second one to approach her. I had a different uniform, but I’m still not sure if it was my uniform or my face that attracted her to me." Lauren Fleishman

![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea96dfbd8e404577/69877f12a988ca7f576ac735/lauren-fleishman-lovers-8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Itig and Golda Pollac Brooklyn, New York Married on August 13, 1946\. Golda, "I would say love came little by little. Not right away.We were young.And he was older, but I liked him. He spoke to me in a very nice way." Lauren Fleishman


![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ba091bed8edde8/69877f12cd1bba52026f530e/lauren-fleishman-lovers-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Yaakov and Mariya Shapirshetyn Brooklyn, New York Married on July 6, 1949\. Yaakov, "What is the secret to love? A secret is a secret, and I don’t reveal my secrets." Lauren Fleishman

![The Lovers](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b01e6df120ee0cb/69877f12e20a87545ca85168/lauren-fleishman-lovers-10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Gino and Angie Terranova Staten Island. New York Married on September 27, 1947\. Angie, "You really don’t think about getting older. First of all, you’re aging together, and when you see a person constantly,you don’t notice big changes. Like you don’t notice, oh you’re getting a little wrinkle here and tomorrow you say it’s a little deeper. No, those are things that just happen." Lauren Fleishman


## Transcript

Sexual pleasure is only one part of what men and women want from each other. They want intimacy, they want closeness, they want understanding, they want comfort, they want fun, and they want somebody who really cares about them beyond going to bed with them, and I think people are always seeking that. In every generation. [ MUSIC ] My name is Shirley Zussman. I just reached a hundred years of age, and I am a practicing sex therapist. I was invited with my husband to a lecture in New Jersey, in 1966. Masters and Johnson were the speakers. No body knew about them. Human sexual response had just been published, what I saw was a couple who will say that people had problems in an area in their lives that was very important and they were recognizing that it was all not just.

Glamorous and wonderful to be sexual. One had to almost had to learn how to be a good partner and to endure the pleasure not only for yourself but for each other. And I thought we can do that. Why can't we do that? And we applied for training with Masters and Johnson at that time. The patients that came to us were people who read the paper. The only way they do anything about the work that was being done there. And the problems they came with, was somewhat different than the problems they come with today. Mostly, women came because would put out orgasmic, they didn't know how to achieve an orgasm, but they wanted one.

It was so over that ,. Goal they had for themselves and how do I get there. That was one Masters and Johnson's contribution that there was a relatively simple way to start learning about your body. In other words, get, get to know your, who you are sexually and physically and that was. And encouragement for masturbation for learning what makes you feel good. I see a big change in the we view casual sex. In the 60's I think it was not just casual it was frantic. I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone. There is so much less actual physical connection, there's less touching, there's less talking, there's less holding, there's less looking, [ INAUDIBLE ].

People get pleasure from looking at each other. But the most common problem, I would say, in the sex therapy that I live in, is a lack of desire. You have to look at your priorities. You have to decide what is important to make you feel good about yourself and your life. And to help make your partner feel good and to establish something that is gratifying that really fills a need that we all have to be close to somebody.

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