OkCupid Will Now Include A Polyamorous Option

A new feature on OkCupid proves it's a dating site for those who aren't just looking for monogamy. The Atlantic reports that starting Friday, the dating site will now include a feature that allows you to search for more than one mate. This means users who are listed as “seeing someone,” “married,” or “in an open relationship” can now search for someone else to join their relationship. The decision to include an option for the polyamorous users comes after OkCupid noticed an increase in those interested in non-monogamous relationships. In fact, the site reports that users looking for monogamous relationships has "fallen to a minority of all users, 44%, down from 56% in 2010." According to the company's data, 24% of its users are "seriously interested" in group sex, while 42% would consider dating someone who is already involved in an open or polyamorous relationship. This is an increase of 8% since five years ago. “It seems that now people are more open to polyamory as a concept,” Jimena Almendares, OkCupid’s chief product officer, told The Atlantic. This seems to be true, being that Psychology Today reported in 2014 that "sexually non-monogamous couples in the United States number in the millions." There are dating sites that are aimed at those interested in polyamory and there are ways to unofficially search for these kinds of relationships on sites like Tinder or Match.com (both owned by OkCupid's parent company, Match Group). The announcement makes OkCupid the first mainstream site of its kind to officially offer the option. This is just one of the steps OkCupid has taken to include those who do not so easily define themselves or their relationships. In 2014, the site added the "open relationship" setting. Last year, it increased the number of genders it recognized to 22. It now allows users to choose genders such as "transgender" or "gender queer." “Finding your partner is very important,” Almendares said, “you should have the option to express specifically and exactly who you are and what you need.”