It’s official: Gen Z is rewriting the rules of dating. And I know as a millennial who feels like she’s seen everything from the early aughts of Tinder dating to just recently being ghosted by an Australian man I met on Feeld, I am not so mad at the idea. A change in the dating world? Personally, I welcome it.

It turns out that younger daters — think early teens to 20-somethings who haven’t been dating for that long — are more likely to skip out on traditional dating terms like casual, exclusive, or even being open. Instead, they’re gravitating toward a connection outside of that. One that isn’t easily defined and doesn’t need to be. Enter: The explorationship.

The explorationship, a term originally coined by the dating app Flure — an app that puts a no-pressure approach on dating — is simply a relationship ethos. No more just marriage-minded or just hookup culture, either. Think of it as the space where two people explore what a connection could become without rushing to have the, “What are we?” chat. 

And, with everything I’ve seen in the dating world, the idea seems to be catching on fast. According to Flure, more than 40% of Gen Z users prefer not to define their relationships upfront. But it’s not just this specific app that’s seeing this trend. The rest of the world is, too. Another study found that over half of Gen Z survey respondents consider traditional dating structures outdated. 

With all that in mind, why should you as a dating professional care? What should dating apps be doing to meet those who are looking for an explorationship?

What is An Explorationship?

“An explorationship is dating without a road map,” Leah Levi, Flure’s in-house dating expert, tells Dating News. “It’s not a situationship, not exactly friends-with-benefits either. Two people are open to seeing what a connection could become, without forcing it into a predefined category from the start.”

The term emerged organically, Levi said, after Flure’s team noticed how limited existing dating language had become.

“You had ‘casual,’ ‘serious,’ ‘open,’ but nothing that captured the curiosity, the intentional not-knowing that so many Gen Z daters were clearly gravitating toward,” she explains. “Explorationship felt like a name for that messy, often meaningful middle.”

Whereas a situationship often implies stagnation, and casual dating can signal emotional detachment, an explorationship is rooted in intention. 

“You’re not avoiding clarity, you’re just not rushing it,” said Levi. “That distinction matters.”

Why Gen Z Is Choosing Label-Free Love

“For many Gen Z daters, committing to a label too soon feels like closing a door before you’ve even stepped inside,” said Levi. “There’s a sense of: let me figure this out first, then we’ll define it.”

I hate to say it, but when I was their age, I didn’t have the social or cultural awareness that I do now. Dating meant commitment, long-term dates, engagement, eventual marriage and having (many) babies. As someone who got married at 22, then divorced by 25 after coming out as bisexual and polyamorous, I quickly learned that trajectory isn’t for everyone. 

And Gen Z feels the same. They’ve watched dating norms shift in real time, grown up questioning binary structures (as they should!) and developed a keen awareness of how language can shape identity. It makes sense that they’d crave more flexible ways to define (or not define) their relationships.

“It feels like a combination of emotional awareness and cultural change,” said Levi. “There’s this broader resistance to binaries happening across so many aspects of life — gender, identity, even career paths. So dating is naturally following suit.”

More than anything, explorationships are a response to a dating culture that has long pushed people toward predefined outcomes (like Hinging to another person on Hinge or settling down with the love of your life after one random swipe.) But Gen Z, it seems, would rather explore than commit to a script. And I love that.

What This Means for the Dating Industry

OK, OK. So how does this affect you? You, there, in the dating industry. Well, for platforms built on traditional dating funnels, the rise of explorationships presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

“Don’t treat user journeys like sales pipelines,” Levi cautions. “Not everyone’s racing toward a conversion.”

Translation: The “define what you’re looking for and get matched accordingly” model isn’t working for everyone, especially not for the younger folks out there. So, if we want to be what they want, pick up what they’re putting down and potentially redefine how inclusive and flexible your dating app or site can be.

At Flure, for example, the explorationship has shaped every aspect of the app’s UX. 

“We reimagined what connecting can actually look like,” said Levi. “It’s not about swiping or ticking boxes anymore. There are no rigid labels, no ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes.’ You just add or hide people. That’s it. It takes the pressure off and makes space for slower, more natural connections.”

Even the app’s interface is designed to feel more like a social network than a dating platform. Users see everyone nearby, not just a curated stack of swipes. If you download the app, you’ll see like I did, that filters exist, but they’re optional. And perhaps, in my opinion, most radically: there’s no prompt forcing you to define what you’re looking for right out of the gate.

“It usually starts with onboarding,” said Levi. “That’s where most platforms get it wrong—asking people to define what they want before they’ve even met someone. That kind of question assumes people know exactly what they want and that they won’t change. But in reality, a person might think they’re not looking for anything serious—and then something shifts. UX should be flexible enough to allow that.”

Designing for Discovery, Not Destination

So what should platforms be thinking about as explorationships go mainstream? According to Levi, folks in the dating industry should start by designing for discovery. 

“Allow ambiguity,” Levi said. “Sometimes two people are just vibing and don’t want to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out’—they want to see. When you reduce that to a drop-down menu or a checklist, you’re flattening real experiences into something transactional.”

Instead, apps should consider features that support gradual unfolding, like conversation starters that evolve, or connection histories that reflect the dynamic nature of a relationship. She said to give users space to explore who someone is, not just the role they may fill.

Another thing? Avoid forcing labels on a relationship or dynamic too early. Labels can be great, but they can also be limiting and make younger daters feel they’re in a box.

“Connection doesn’t always follow a straight line—and that’s okay,” said Levi. “Dating platforms should reflect that.”

It’s Not A Phase, Mom

I just flashed back to shopping at Hot Topic, buying alt studded bracelets and Panic! At The Disco’s first album. It’s not a phase, Mom. The same is true for explorationships. While some people may dismiss explorationships as a passing phase of early adulthood, the folks at Flure, like Levi, believe the mindset behind them is here to stay. 

So much so that they built an entire dating app around the concept.

“It might have started as a generational trend, but it’s speaking to something deeper,” she said. “Explorationships are about how we navigate uncertainty, how we prioritize compatibility over conformity.”

In other words, while dating app users may eventually transition into more defined relationships, the ethos that explorationships represent — like openness, the co-creation of partnerships and the ability to be fluid — is likely to stay, even if they end up settling down into a more traditional relationship.

The way Gen Z is dating may look messy to some, but really, it’s just honest. People crave the space to figure things out, connect without rushing to label or lock it in. If dating apps want to stay relevant, they need to stop acting like every connection has to come with a formula for marriage and babies and the white picket fence.

Instead, you should be rethinking the old assumption that clarity must come before connection. Embrace the newness (and curiosity) that an explorationship can bring to the table.

In other words, be open-minded. Be curious! Daters will thank you.