Feeld: Once a Haven for the Unconventional, Now Labeled as ‘Mainstream Misery’ by Some Users

Alise Morales just happened to be browsing the dating app Feeld when a man was taken into custody by ICE agents just a mile from her Brooklyn, New York, home.

Recently divorced, Morales, a 35-year-old comedian, was seeking something purely casual. That’s when she stumbled upon Paul’s profile. “I was a couple swipes in, and it took me a moment to process what I was seeing,” she recalls. He was 32, straight, and, like her, looking for “casual fun.” He was also just one mile away. Then she read his bio: “Hey I’m Paul! ICE agent in from out of town looking for fun :)”

At first, Morales thought it might be a bad joke, “but there was nothing else on the profile to suggest that it was, or what the joke could even be,” she explains. Social media alerts had mentioned an active ICE operation in her area. “I’m like, is this guy really kidnapping one of my neighbors right now?”

Among all the dating and hookup apps, Morales felt the least overwhelmed by Feeld when she joined in the summer of 2025. She appreciated the “radical honesty” of the users. But this was a unique situation. “Obviously, I don’t expect everyone on there to share my progressive political beliefs, but Feeld feels like a space—due to its sex-positive nature—where encountering someone like that is surprising.”

Though her experience is distinct, it reflects a broader trend noted by some Feeld enthusiasts: the app, once a haven for nontraditional and kink-friendly users, now appeals to a wider audience.

Founded in 2014 as 3nder, Feeld gained recognition for embracing individuals who didn’t conform to the norms of other dating apps. (Its initial concept: Tinder tailored for those interested in threesomes.) Looking for a play partner who identifies as two-spirit but not nonbinary? Eager to connect with someone into bondage and ethical non-monogamy? Feeld was the platform for the adventurous.

However, that dynamic is shifting. The company reports a 368 percent increase in membership from 2021 to 2025, with nearly a 200 percent rise in new users during the same timeframe. Data shared with WIRED indicates that “finding community” has emerged as the platform’s fastest-growing relationship mode, soaring 257 percent among new users from December 2025 to mid-January 2026.

“We’re capable of achieving something really significant for people,” Feeld CEO Ana Kirova asserts. “A lot of what we stand for resonates with a broader audience, not because we imposed it, but because we found a way to reflect what people desire and provide it.”

Yet, several longtime users describe Feeld as having transitioned from a niche platform to a “hopeless” “normie hell” inundated with conventional daters “using the app as the new Tinder.” This is in addition to issues with “scammers,” individuals promoting their OnlyFans, and bots. One user lamented on Reddit last year, “the biggest complaint is the number of people on the app who are not sexually open-minded.” Another added that Feeld “has taken the quickest and steepest nosedive of any dating app I’ve come across.”

At the core of the app’s transformation lies a pressing question: Who is the platform intended for these days?

On Tuesday, Feeld will introduce a new “self-discovery experience” called Reflections. Created by University of Michigan associate professor Apryl Williams, Reflections is a guided 30-minute survey—accessible within the app or online for nonmembers, free of charge—that assesses users in three areas: desires, boundaries, and relationship preferences. With 165 prompts—questions ranging from “What would stop a connection from progressing?” to “Would you use large toys or objects on someone?”—Reflections evaluates users on aspects such as kink affinity, recognition of red flags, sex drive, willingness to explore, and self-expression. (Users receive a percentage score in each category along with a summary of personalized results.)