Key Takeaways

RAW dating app reports that nearly half of young daters prefer using honest photos on dating apps that show them in an authentic light, warts and all.

It’s what RAW dating app calls “reverse catfishing” — when daters show their real, unfiltered appearances that put “flaws” on display as part of their ongoing quest to find authentic, long-term romance. 

Moving away from curated images and toward features that highlight personality, candid moments, and genuine self-presentation could improve user trust, engagement, and long-term retention.

After years of dodging sneaky catfish and being misled by overly-edited profile pics, today’s daters want the dating app experience to be simple and straightforward. And when it comes to matches, they prefer quality over quantity. 

“Gen Z daters value being real over being perfect,” dating app CEO Marina Anderson said in a press release. And she would know; she co-founded RAW dating app, which champions authenticity by only allowing users to post candid, in-the-moment pics that show them in their everyday lives. 

Gen Z Daters Say Goodbye to Superficial Connections

Dating app success hinges on first impressions, and for more Gen Z daters, the ultimate first impression is “I feel connected to you”, not “I feel physically attracted to you.” For today’s young daters, feeling safe and emotionally connected is often more important than physical chemistry.  

Hinge’s 3rd annual LGBTQIA+ D.A.T.E. report, Love Beyond Labels, recently found that 80% of the LGBTQIA+ and straight daters surveyed said they were initially attracted more to someone’s overall vibe and energy than their physical appearance. 

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” seems to be a key mantra for today’s daters. Anderson confirmed that Gen Z prefers authentic connections over superficial ones. “They want matches who share their actual interests — whether that’s deadlifting, ramen hunting, or binge-watching trash TV,” she said. 

Industry professionals are seeing Gen Z daters sacrifice a high quantity of matches for a few truly promising ones. Daters and apps alike have picked up on the fact that glossy, filtered, and edited profile pics, while beautiful, don’t always attract the most down-to-earth people. 

“If showing their messy side means fewer connections, so be it,” Anderson explained of Gen Z’s new reverse catfishing strategy. “They’d rather scare off 100 wrong matches than fake it for one.” 

To Gen Z, Honesty is the Best Policy

The Great Swiping Craze of the 2010s seems to be behind us, according to the 79% of Gen Z daters who, according to RAW dating app, say they are burned out from traditional dating apps. 

They don’t want to swipe through endless carousels of profiles, they don’t want to struggle to make conversation with dead-end matches, and they really don’t want to be catfished. 

On RAW and other dating apps that use double-photo verification, users show themselves without makeup, post-workout, and first thing in the morning — far from the overly-polished and airbrushed profile pics we’re all used to seeing on social media and other dating apps. 

Innovations like double-photo verification are a direct response to Gen Z’s growing need to find deeper connections at a faster and safer rate than ever before. 

And yet, modern daters aren’t as enthused by AI innovations as some might think. 

A recent Instabug survey found that 63.5% of dating app users wouldn’t choose one app over another simply because of the app’s AI capabilities. 

Innovations are almost always a good idea, but not when they’re unnecessary, intrusive, or when they promote artificiality. In this case, some Gen Z daters prefer a simple, bare-faced matchmaking approach to something that has been over-complicated by, for example, AI photo edits. 

In a press release, RAW dating app also pointed out a 20% surge in romance scams in the past year alone. Catfish are often the culprits behind these romance scams, which makes Gen Z’s dedication to reverse catfishing particularly illuminating. Clearly, they want dating apps to provide safe connections as well as authentic ones. 

If Gen Z’s reverse catfish strategy tells us anything, it’s that honesty really is the best policy for modern daters — especially on dating apps.