Gen Z is bringing back the double date

Globe and Mail

a day ago

The first time I ever heard the phrase 'two man' – the Gen Z term for a double date – was from my 15-year-old niece. It was a classic set-up: Her bestie had a boyfriend and they each invited someone to a group hang. For her, it worked. She now has her first high-school beau thanks to a little help from their pals.
A couple of months later in June 2025, Tinder, the world's largest dating app, released a new Double Date feature allowing users to team up with a BFF to swipe and match with other sets of friends for a first date.
It seems the double date is back in style.
Other companies are capitalizing on Gen Z's desire to date in groups, too: Timeleft matches up six strangers for a group date, while on the Fourplay app, users can create joint profiles with friends to seek out double-dates.
'There's definitely a growing trend but more so with my younger clients,' says Amy Chan, a Vancouver-based relationship expert who the Observer described as a 'scientific Carrie Bradshaw' and author of the book Breakup Bootcamp: The Science of Rewiring Your Heart.
When asked why this is, Chan says that younger generations have lost something crucial that older couples had more of decades ago: social accountability. Before dating apps took over the world, people met through friends, at work, the gym, church or a local bar – places where bad behaviour came with consequences. 'Ghosting was less prevalent because there were social repercussions,' Chan explains.
Now, dating can be an incredibly lonely experience, she says. On apps, you're swiping alone. Messaging strangers alone. Showing up to meet them – still alone. And hoping that the person is who they say they are and that you're not in any danger.
'That's a whole lot of pressure that makes dating not fun,' Chan says. 'A double date can break that pattern. It lowers the stakes and makes the date feel less like an interview and more like a group hang.' And for Gen Z, one of the most socially anxious generations, that is a game-changer.
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Nearly half of singles planned to rely on friends to help them date in 2025, according to Tinder's 2024 'Year in Swipe' report. These insights are what inspired Tinder to design their double-date feature, says Cleo Long, the company's senior director of global product marketing. Long shared that early testing has shown promising results: Women who have used it are three times more likely to 'like' a double-date pair and four times as likely to match with a pair compared with solo profiles.
And while the feature seems more straightforward when friends are looking for the same thing (for example, two straight women looking for two men or two gay men looking for men), Tinder says it can work for mixed-preference pairs as well (say, a straight woman and a gay woman). According to the company, the matching logic ensures that besties swiping together will see at least one of the friend's preferences pop up on screen, 'making room for a wide range of dynamics and connections.'
If you decide to join the 'two-man' trend, Chan has suggestions on what to look for during your outing. How does your date join in on the group banter? Do they need to be the centre of attention? Do they constantly talk over your pal? Do they show curiosity towards you and your bestie?
'Group dynamics can help you see their level of relational intelligence,' she says. As for what to do on the date, Chan suggests an interactive group activity such as bowling or a comedy show: 'Shared novelty and laughter build connection.'