Dating app, OkCupid, launches polyamorous feature

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - OkCupid is one of country’s most popular dating apps and it now includes a feature for polyamorous users.

What is polyamory you ask? Many people refer to it as being in an open relationship, but basically it is any relationship that is non-monogamous.

There are 9.8 million Americans in non-monogamous relationships according to an article published last year in Psychology Today. That includes gay, straight and lesbian couples who agree that having multiple partners is okay.

Experts say it’s difficult to get an exact number because so many polyamorous people keep it a secret.

OkCupid says the new feature allows the user to indicate that they are in fact in an open relationship, in addition to letting the user’s partner verify that information.

KTVU spoke with Jimena Almanderes, OkCupid’s chief product officer, who explained the modifications to the site.

“We can see that people are much more open and even curious about it,” she said about the increase in interest in polyamorous relationship options.

Almanderes said when the question, “Would you consider being part of a committed polyamorous relationship?” was posed— that there has been a six-percent increase in the last five years of people who are interested.

OkCupid launched in 2006. In 2014, their platform expanded to include 22 genders. Those include; woman, man, agender, androgynous, but also perhaps less familiar identifiers like hijra and two spirit.

Almanderes says the number of users who say they are in committed monogamous relationships are on the decline and that only 44 percent of the dating site’s users are committed to total monogamy.

“We have seen a lot of users that are really welcoming the feature,” Almanderes says.