News & Politics

Dating Website Credits Shutdown for Major Hookup Surge

Hey, a lot of federal employees have had two and a half weeks of free time on their hands.

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The Washington area is responsible for a surge in the number of messages and hookups exchanged by users of Zoosk, a dating website that claims 40 million members, said in a press release as Congress appeared to be reaching a settlement to the shutdown.
During the shutdown’s second week, the site’s DC users showed a 45.6 percent increase in the number of profiles viewed, and a 48 percent rise in the number of instant messages sent.
And the trolling for dates only accelerated as the shutdown dragged on. During the first week, the number of Washington-area users who expressed a desire to meet others rose by 91.6 percent. That figure rose to 110 percent in the second week.
Of course, one doesn’t need to go through a professional dating site to find some shutdown loving. As we noted a couple weeks ago, Craigslist is teeming with offers to make a good time out of unpaid leave.

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Benjamin Freed
Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.

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