Lonely? It's the Best Time Of the Year to Start Dating Online

Dust off your OkCupid account and reactive that PlentyOfFish profile you’d almost forgotten about (almost); It’s the new year and right now is the busiest time for online dating sites. So take a new photo and start frantically sending winks and woos to everyone you’re attracted to

Unfortunately, you’ve already missed the busiest night of online dating (of this year), according to Quartz. That, my friends, was last night. According to numbers from some of the net’s most popular sites, the Sunday after New Year’s is the most active time on dating websites. While Quartz gives few reasons for this (one might be that people just have more time off), it might have to do with the fact that a couple of days after the celebration and inevitable three days of hangover is when you actually start implementing your New Year’s resolutions. And if those resolutions include finding a new mate by the end of 2015, well then the Sunday before you return to work as a new you sounds as good as any. From personal experience I can tell you that most of my OkCupid dating periods started in January and ended sometime in March/April, but Quartz points out that the best window to meet your next romantic partner is between now and Valentine’s Day. In fact, the surge in site usage could have a lot to do with the fact that people who were lonely around the holidays are even lonelier come February 14th.

To be honest, while this does seem a good time to start thinking about dating, the Valentine’s Day connection may make people feel more desperate and willing to settle for something much less than they may be into (if only for a while). Instead, I suggest you start the search right after your birthday. That’s partly because aging a year makes you more mature and ready for more adult relationships and partly because I met my partner on OkCupid on my birthday. I was drunk, saw he was on-line, thought he was cute and ignored the grammatical errors in his profile. We’ve been together seven years. Follow this strategy.