For Singles Day, World explains why real is the new attractive

New Harris Poll research on behalf of World finds that 81% of singles would be more likely to use a dating app if every profile were confirmed as a real person.

As millions of singles celebrate Singles Day on November 11, the biggest question in online dating is no longer “are we compatible?” but “are you even real?”

A new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of World shows that trust has become the most important factor in online dating. Nearly 3 in 4 online daters (74%) say they have suspected that someone they matched with on a dating app was not a real person. Catfishing, AI-generated profiles, bots and romance scams have turned swiping into a guessing game, and singles say they are tired of it.

World’s answer is Proof of Human: a way for anyone to show they are a real, unique person online without revealing who they are.

The trust gap in online dating

The survey paints a clear picture of how much doubt singles now bring to every match:

• 74% of online daters have suspected a match was not real.
• 57% say fake or deceptive profiles are among the biggest problems on dating apps today.
• 70% would rather match with an average-looking person they know is real than a very attractive profile they cannot be sure about.
• 46% would be more likely to meet in person sooner if they knew their match was real.

In other words, being real now outranks looks. For a growing number of singles, authenticity is the new chemistry.

What singles want: verified humans on both sides

Singles are not giving up on dating apps. They are asking for proof. According to the research, 81% would be more likely to use a dating app if every profile were confirmed as belonging to a real person.

They are also willing to do their part. Four in five singles (80%) say they would take steps to prove there is a real person behind their own profile, as long as their matches did the same. Verification, in other words, is becoming a two-way expectation rather than a burden.

How World’s Proof of Human works

World ID is a universal set of human Proofs that lets people show they are a real, unique person online without sharing personal data such as their name, birthday or address. It is built for a world where AI can generate convincing faces, voices and conversations at scale.

The core of the system is the Orb, a spherical verification device. A person stands in front of it, and the Orb uses images of the eyes and face to confirm they are a unique, living human. That check is turned into an anonymous cryptographic credential, a verified World ID, stored in the World ID App. The process does not require a name, email or gender.

A few features make the technology a natural fit for dating:

• Privacy by design. It is claimed that apps receive proof that an account belongs to a unique verified human, not the user’s biometric data or personal identifiers.
• Selective proofs. Users can confirm requirements such as being over 18 without revealing their actual birthday or identity.
• Speed. Claiming a Proof of Human takes about two minutes.
• Reusability. Once verified, the same credential can be used to sign in to other apps and services, rather than repeating a new check on every platform.
• Layers of assurance. Orb verification is the highest level. World also offers lighter options, such as an anonymized check of an official ID through its NFC chip.

The result is a simple promise for singles: the person on the other end of the chat is real.

Dating apps are already on board

The largest names in dating are moving in this direction. World first partnered with Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, on a World ID pilot in Japan in 2025. In April 2026, at World’s Lift Off event, the partnership expanded to the United States.

Tinder users who verify with World ID can display a human badge on their profile, signaling to potential matches that a verified, real person is behind it. Verification is optional.

Dating is only one use case. World ID is also being integrated into video calls, document signing, live event ticketing and gaming, with partners including Zoom and Docusign. The common thread is the same one singles describe in the survey: in the age of AI, knowing you are dealing with a real human is becoming essential.

About the survey

The survey was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of World from August 20 to 21, 2026, among 892 single adults aged 18 and over, of whom 649 have used online dating apps. Results are accurate to within +/- 3.6 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.