It’s been quite the year for Feeld, the “dating app for the curious”. Earlier in the year it was reported that the app had nearly doubled its turnover in 2023, while back in October they launched the inaugural issue of their magazine AFM (A Fucking Magazine, or, if you prefer, A Feeld Magazine). Today, Feeld published their 2024 ‘Feeld Raw’ report, drawing on data gathered from their userbase. “More than ever, 2024 was the year we followed our curiosities wherever they went,” the report reads. “Feeld Raw reveals our innermost desires to explore new parts of ourselves, and paints these revelations in technicolour. One thing’s for certain – across cities, generations, sexualities and gender identities, we are always evolving.”

Here are some of the highlights from Feeld’s 2024 review.

BRAT’S CULTURAL IMPACT

It’s hard to understate the impact Charli xcx’s Brat had on culture this year. Whether it was 360 constantly blasting through the airwaves, Kamala Harris trying (and ultimately failing) to get Gen Zs to vote blue by running a slime green campaign, or cocaine making a comeback, Charli’s influence has been undeniable. Now, according to Feeld’s report, it seems as though Brat has even shaped our tastes in the bedroom.

Gen Z are apparently the brattiest generation on Feeld, with the app recording a seismic 460 per cent uptick in Gen Z members adding the term “brat” to their profiles. There was a similarly massive 560 per cent rise in young people describing themselves as “brat tamers”.

“Charli xcx can claim credit for the rise in younger people embracing brat (with the term achieving rapid social popularity and being chosen by Collins Dictionary as their word of the year),” explains Dr Luke Brunning, lecturer in applied ethics at the University of Leeds. “But the term enables people to express a more widespread desire for autonomy, independence, and the exploration of desire and pleasure.”

Charli xcx can claim credit for the rise in younger people embracing brat

LONELY LONDONERS

The report also found that London has five times as many singles as couples, making it the city with the highest number of singles in the world. Perhaps this is unsurprising – anyone who has tried to date here will know that searching for a man without debilitating mummy issues in the UK capital is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. 

The report also unearthed other interesting trends in cities across the world: monogamy is the fastest-growing desire in Amsterdam, Paris has more celibate members than any other city in the world, and Seattle is a non-monogamy hotspot. 

CELIBACY IS STILL ON THE RISE

Celibacy isn’t only a big trend in Paris. This year, the number of celibate Feeld users in London grew by 235 per cent; in LA by 350 per cent, and in New York City by 433 per cent. 

The rising interest in celibacy in US cities like LA and NYC chimes with reports that the 4B movement – a South Korean feminist movement which urges women not to date men, have sex with men, have children, or marry men – has gained momentum in the US following Trump’s election, with many expecting that the incoming President could roll back abortion rights even further.

“More people, especially women, are exploring the intentional choice to refrain from sex, either as a way of reclaiming a relationship with their bodies, to reevaluate their priorities, to focus on work and other relationships, or out of dissatisfaction with male entitlement and anti-feminism in contemporary dating,” Dr Brunning explains.

More people, especially women, are exploring the intentional choice to refrain from sex

STRAIGHT WOMEN WANT TO GET PEGGING

The report found that the fastest-growing desire among straight women was pegging, which rose by 67 per cent this year.

“This is potentially positive news, suggesting attitudes around masculinity, and particularly sex, are shifting, enabling men to be more sexually explorative in ways which have not conformed with traditional ideas of masculinity,” says Dr Natasha McKeever, lecturer in applied ethics at the University of Leeds. “It could also be indicative of better communication, openness, and willingness to be vulnerable within relationships.”

ALL ANYONE WANTS IS A HOT NON-BINARY PARTNER

Androgynosexual was the fastest-growing sexuality this year, growing by 250 per cent compared to last year. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, androgynosexuals feel sexual, romantic and/or emotional attraction to people with both feminine and masculine features.

“As names become available, people are better able to recognise, understand, and articulate their desires,” Dr Brunning explains. “Sexual attraction to androgynous or gender-ambiguous people may have been common but is now more visible, and communicable, due to the term ‘androgynosexual’.”