OkCupid Has Created A Feature For People In Polyamorous Relationships

Gone are the days when dating had to follow a standard timeline: Boy meets girl, boy asks girl out, boy falls in love with girl and proposes and then they get married and have children.

It's 2016, and there are way more options than that. Finally, online dating is starting to catch up. Or, the site OkCupid is, at least.

The Atlantic reports that according to OkCupid statistics, 24 percent of their user base is "seriously interested" in group sex. "Forty-two percent would consider dating someone already involved in an open or polyamorous relationship," they state. And, when it comes to both statistics, "Both numbers represent increases of 8 percentage points from five years ago."

That's a significant shift in the dating scene, and the site is the first mainstream online-dating platform to accommodate.

Here's what the polyamorous option on OKCupid will look like:

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the atlantic

A user will have the option to link their profile with the person with whom they are in a relationship, allowing the two to find potential dates together. This is a change from the way polyamorous people were forced to use the site before, often describing their dating situation in their individual profile, or creating a profile that would represent the couple together.

Jimena Almendares, OkCupid’s chief product officer told The Atlantic that before, "The poly-couple profile could only select one gender, for example, and its profile photo would feature two people. 'As a user, when you land on that profile, you wouldn’t know what you’re seeing.'"

Now, the system is streamlined to allow each individual their profile while also clearly indicating their relationship. Perfect.

Polyamory is far from just an online dating phenomenon. Four to five percent of the American population is considered polyamorous, according to Elisabeth Sheff, the author of The Polyamorists Next Door. Increased awareness of options beyond monogamy are leading to more and more couples opening their doors to additions.

And even if it isn't something you're interested in, some argue that monogamists have a lot to learn about relationships by examining the polyamorist way of approaching romance.

Now, if you're only looking for monogamous love online, the waters are murky. There are still plenty of places that cater only to non-poly relationships, including OkCupid's sibling sites Match.com and Tinder. The users you'll find on any of these platforms, however, may very well be interested in a non-monogamous setup, and in increasing numbers. The Atlantic states that, at least on OkCupid, "The number of people who say they are solely committed to monogamy...has fallen to a minority of all users, 44 percent, down from 56 percent in 2010."

Is polyamory the way of the future? Only you can decide what works in your love life. If you're ready to go poly, though, OkC is ready and waiting.