Connecting with an ex-match means you can skip the small talk and go straight to the point, claimed 3 in 5 women between 25 and 30 years of age
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Most often than not, every one of our friends has told us not to text our ex but we still end up doing it any way even though it is often labelled as a dumb mistake.
Interestingly, many people are only starting to realise it was more nostalgia than a 3 am blunder. A recent survey has found that that online daters from India revealed that seeing an ex-match gives them a familiar rush -- that when there's history with a person and good vibes, recycling an old match sounds like a good plan.
In a new survey by dating app QuackQuack, 2 in 7 daters admitted to revisiting old matches and shared that 'Nostalgia Matching' is now a full-blown trend.
The survey was conducted at the end of April 2025 among 8546 active daters from metros, suburbs, and rural areas between the ages of 18 and 30. Participants were chosen from various professions, including IT, healthcare, education, sales and marketing, content creation, finance, and other sectors, along with a small section of business owners and students. The gender distribution was evenly split for a better understanding of how nostalgia matches work for both men and women.
Sharing insights, the app's founder and CEO, Ravi Mittal, commented, "People generally crave familiarity, and connecting with an ex-match gives them that sense of comfort and safety, even if things didn't turn out perfectly the first time. We are seeing that dating is no longer linear - it's becoming a full circle. Many are reconsidering old matches, not as a rebound but to explore the possibilities of reconnecting with someone with whom they had almost something special."
Unfinished business
Some matches simply drift away - there's no ghosting, there's no breakup. It's just two people who did not put enough effort into the connection because work got crazy or things started to seem serious. About 27 per cent of men and women from Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities shared that they have re-matched with people because their connection felt like unfinished business. While the connection timed out, their curiosity did not.
"I came across an ex-match's profile, and suddenly, I felt a gush of emotions and nostalgia hit me like a brick. I immediately connected with her," said Manish, a 26-year-old content strategist from Haryana.
Nostalgia matches mean less small talk
Connecting with an ex-match means you can skip the small talk and go straight to the point, claimed 3 in 5 women between 25 and 30 years of age. There's no need for an awkward intro or asking, 'What's your favorite colour;' there's a better scope of hitting the deeper notes this time. The data also shows that a nostalgia match leads to two times longer chat sessions than an average fresh match.
Gen-Z-approved romantic recycling
Gen-Z's are all about recycling, and it extends to romance as well- 4 in 6 daters below 25 years are more open to romantic do-overs compared to 2 in 5 daters above 27 years of age, who are more inclined toward a "clean slate." More than 36 per cent of GenZ men from Tier 1 and 2 cities said they do not mind revisiting an old match that didn't work out and put in the effort as long as there's no toxic pattern involved. 28-year-old Piyush argued, "I, too, would like to re-match or look back on some connections, but it's the age. It leaves little room for error, let alone repeating one."
Now is better than never
It didn't work out once, does not mean it won't work out ever, commented more than 17 per cent of Gen-Z daters from metros. People get busy, life happens, and most importantly, people continue to change. Puja Trivedi (24) said, "It might not have been the right timing then, but don't write it off completely. I feel that timing is the biggest motivator of nostalgia matching. I have reconnected with forgotten matches because I believed that now is the right time for it."
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