Ahead of Halloween 2023, online dating individuals share their dating nightmares

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Halloween is gaining popularity in India, and in the spirit of all things haunted and spooky, one of India's dating app, QuackQuack, conducted a survey where dating individuals from all around the country shared their dating nightmares and, more importantly, suggested tips and tricks to easily dodge them. The survey was conducted for a duration of three days among 10,000 male and female dating individuals from metros and smaller cities. The survey participants ranged between 18 and 32 years of age, and the majority of them were working professionals, some students and self-employed professionals.

The app's founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, said, "Navigating the world of romance is certainly tricky, regardless of the mode of communication. Among our 27 million plus users, we see genuine connections come easily to some, but not all. Some of these dating individuals have to manoeuvre a little more than others to reach their perfect match. The purpose of our survey was to help new dating individuals have a smoother experience, and who better to help than experienced dating individuals who have been there and done that."

The ghosts
18 per cent of dating individuals from all over India reveal being ghosted and share their stories. Most of them exclaimed that what seemed like a perfect connection turned out to be one-sided, and the match ghosted them without reason or explanation. The lesson they learned and the knowledge they'd like to impart to those new on the platform is to communicate more clearly and be more honest about your feelings.

If you think a date went well, say it out loud so that there are no misunderstandings. If your match does not feel the same way, there will be tell-tale signs of it once you express your emotions about the interaction. They also wanted to tell the potential ghosting ghouls that it is not necessary to disappear on people. If they don't like someone, being an adult and saying it outright is much better than leaving a person with no closure.

The evil dead rise
A term coined by Gen Z dating individuals ‘Evil Dead Rise', is when an ex rises from the ashes of the traumatic breakup and attempts to enter with new and upgraded fake promises and lies. 37 per cent of dating app users between 20 and 26 have admitted that they have been on the receiving end of the ‘Evil Dead Rise'. If their past relationship was not terrifying enough, the sudden re-entry of the ex succeeds in turning their lives into a real-life horror story and haunts their new relationships.

The zombie match
31 per cent of female users from Tier 1 and 2 cities have experienced their ex-matches come back. These women told QuackQuack that the same matches had suddenly unmatched them without any reason and, out of nowhere, reappeared, pretending as if none of that happened. There is no explanation as to why they do it, but there is a solution- these women suggest never accepting a zombie match because they might pull the same action again. No match is as important as your self-respect and mental peace.

The spine-chilling first dates
12 per cent of male dating individuals above 30 from Tier 1 cities spoke about the nightmarish dates where their match kept checking their phones, constantly spoke about their exes, brought a friend along to the first meet-up ever, and downright left the date mid-way because they did not like the food. These men also stated that none of these would have happened if they had not rushed into meeting their match and rather taken some time to get to know them well enough. They advised young dating individuals to arrange a virtual meet-up first and then move on to meet in person.

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