Instagram has become a popular dating app in the age of swipe fatigue

Track who views your stories, manage your profile, follow someone to get their attention, and send messages.

A former Instagram employee recently told me that the Stories feature has essentially become a dating product. And a former Bumble employee told me that Instagram was often viewed internally as a competitor. These employees were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the company’s strategy.

So, is Instagram a dating app? The short answer: it absolutely can be.

“Everyone is online,” Serena Kerrigan, a content creator and host of the dating-focused account Let’s Fucking Date, recently told Business Insider. “They don’t want to be on the dating apps, but a lot of people are fine with a DM slide-in.”

As dating app users grow tired of endless swiping and lukewarm matches, alternative approaches to online dating are emerging, from apps that focus on IRL dating to simply connecting with people through social media platforms like Instagram.

“We want Instagram to be a place that helps people connect — whether it’s with your best friends or a crush,” a Meta spokesperson told BI. “We’ve seen that there are different features, like Stories likes, DMs and Notes, that people love to use to flirt, date and connect.”

Serena Kerrigan runs an Instagram Broadcast Channel where followers can send DMs to eligible singles each week.

Thanks to Serena Kerrigan

Kerrigan’s Let’s Fucking Date account is the perfect example of this.

What started as a livestream during the pandemic, with Kerrigan going on dates herself, LFD is now a full-fledged dating service, where Kerrigan selects a group of eligible singles every Saturday and sends profiles to an Instagram broadcast channel of about 4,000 people.

“It makes it more normal that you can slide into someone’s DMs, which feels more conscious and accessible than a swipe on a Hinge or a Bumble,” Kerrigan says.

While Kerrigan considered building a dating app, she opted to keep her product Instagram-native.

And unlike many dating apps in 2024, Instagram — and Kerrigan’s LFD channel — is free. (Kerrigan told BI that while she has considered charging for access to her channel through Instagram’s subscription product, she’s more focused on building trust and proving the concept.)

Finding love in a hopeless place

Kerrigan’s LFD page isn’t the only eligible singles account I’ve come across. Last year, digital magazine Byline co-founder Gutes Guterman began posting eligible NYC singles to an account called the “Gutes List.”

Other dating-related pages include missed connection accounts like “Missed You NYC,” which posts monthly roundups of submissions they’ve received. There are also dating content channels like Street Hearts, a short-form video series from Fallen Media starring dating coach Tiffany Baira. And I’ve even seen someone create a dedicated dating Instagram profile, complete with a Google Forms link and a paid advertising strategy.

Meanwhile, Instagram continues to roll out features that can make flirting even easier. Earlier this month, it launched Story comments, which people can (and likely will) use to publicly express their interest in someone or find another excuse to DM them. Instagram’s notes feature also got a makeover this year, with notes now appearing on in-feed posts (yet another prompt to DM your crush).

“Ultimately, people want to connect,” Kerrigan said. And until dating apps can’t cut it, Instagram will.

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