Teenage activist Greta Thunberg has led climate marches worldwide, and now she might also be affecting the dating market.
“One of the issues we’re hearing people care about is climate change. [Users are] showing this issue matters to them when it comes to their potential partner,” Melissa Hobley, the chief marketing officer for OkCupid, told the Hill on Monday. “They’re talking about Greta on their profiles … I think people feel that supporting her or not shows how you feel about the issue and its impact.”
OkCupid saw an increase of 800% in mentions of the teen climate activist this year. The mentions of Thunberg in a profile signal the person cares about how their potential partner thinks about climate change.
“I just think that’s an awesome trend,” Hobley said. “Certainly, there’s a little bit of criticism for creating an [opinion] bubble — but we see a trend that is very much about, ‘Hey, I’m attracted to what you believe in and what you get behind and what you’re into.'”
OkCupid said that in a survey of users, over 50% picked climate change as a more important issue than world peace, the economy, and eradicating disease.
“Climate change and your feelings about that show up in your life in so many ways,” Hobley said. “Climate change and how you feel about that can really help for compatibility.”
[Read more: Greta Thunberg slams notion of meeting with Trump and claims he sees her ‘as a threat’]
