Throuple – Is that still a thing?
What is a “throuple” you might ask? According to Very Well Mind, a throuple, or a triad, is a three-person relationship. To understand this relationship dynamic, it can be helpful to contrast it to what it’s not. It’s not the same thing as having a threesome, which just involves sex, or unicorn polyamory, in which a couple adds a third person to their relationship. A throuple is a romantic relationship between three people. Each person is considered an equal part within this kind of relationship.”
To find out why this kinky trend is on the rise, SW Newsmagazine reached out to Laurel House—Relationship Coach, and host of the podcast, RomConned. House says the reasons are multi-faceted.
“Throuples are gaining visibility right now for a few overlapping reasons: a cultural shift toward questioning traditional relationship structures, increased openness around sexuality, and the influence of social media and reality TV normalizing non-monogamy.”
Inevitably, jealousy would crop up. Right? Laurel says,
“Absolutely—jealousy exists in every relationship structure, including throuples. The difference is that in non-monogamous dynamics, jealousy has to be addressed more directly and frequently.”
Surprisingly, there’s not always sex between all three people in a throuple. House breaks it down for us. “A common misconception is that throuples are inherently sexual among all three partners. In reality, the structure varies widely. Some throuples involve sexual relationships between all members, while others don’t. What defines a throuple isn’t sex—it’s consent, communication, and agreed-upon boundaries. The healthiest arrangements are the ones where expectations are explicit and no one is pressured into intimacy they don’t genuinely want.”
The benefits of a throuple, House explains, are “emotional support, shared responsibilities, and multiple forms of connection. That said, it’s not inherently ‘better’ than monogamy—just different. The biggest benefit only exists when all three people feel equally chosen, respected, and empowered.”
Throning is for Social Clout
But, that’s not the only trend daters are indulging in. “Throning,” among the Gen Z generation, is totally in. Clout-chasing, this dating trend is when somebody chases a popular social media influencer to boost their social status. Throning is dating someone primarily to elevate your own reputation, or—clout by association—essentially putting them on a metaphorical throne for their influence, wealth, or fame rather than for a genuine connection. I’d consider it shallow, but it ranks among one of the trendiest of 2025. Why, you ask?
House explains, “Throning is popular because status has become a form of security. In uncertain times—financially, socially, emotionally—people look for proximity to power, visibility, and validation.” House continues, “Dating someone with influence can feel like borrowing certainty.” She clarifies, “Throning isn’t about love—it’s about association. Being chosen by someone admired feels like proof of worth in a comparison-driven culture.”
So, is throning mutually beneficial? The answer is yes and no… House says, “It can be—but only temporarily.
“In the short term: One person gains visibility or clout. The other gains admiration, access, or ego reinforcement. But long-term relationships require being chosen for who you are, not what you amplify. If the relationship is built on image instead of intimacy, it collapses the moment attention shifts—or when real life shows up.” She sums it up by opining, “You can’t build emotional safety on a pedestal.”
Have Fun. Be Safe!
Quite the opposite of throning is what’s called “safety-first pleasure.”
To learn more about it, SW Newsmagazine consulted with Tawanna Marie Woolfolk, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Relationship Therapist. She says, “More people are recognizing that desire, arousal, and sexual satisfaction are directly tied to self and relational attunement and nervous-system safety. When someone feels emotionally regulated, respected, and unpressured without explicit or implicit judgment, criticism and bias…pleasure exponentially deepens. When they don’t, the body constricts—even if attraction is present,” says Woolfolk.
“This is why slower pacing, clearer consent, and emotional attunement are increasingly experienced as turn-ons rather than mood killers. Safety isn’t the opposite of eroticism—it’s what allows pleasure to actually land in the body.”
Why is this trend so popular right now? Woolfolk reveals, “When someone feels emotionally regulated, respected, and free from judgment or coercion, the body is more available for pleasure.”
When asked who might be attracted to safety-first pleasure, Woolfolk replied, “The people most drawn to safety-first pleasure tend to be those who value depth, consent, and authenticity over performance.”
Dating Apps Fatigue is Real
Some surveys say fewer people are using dating apps to meet people these days. With many users citing burnout, poor experiences, and a desire for more organic connections as reasons for leaving, dating apps are on the decline—especially among Gen Z and college-age daters. They are fatigued by endless swiping, messages, and less IRL meetings. Bumble recently let go of 30% of their staff. Daters desire mutual connections and friends in common, to vouch for strangers (for safety and potential relatedness), the way one might find on the site LinkedIn. However, this doesn’t signal the death of Tinder. People in the mid-life demographic, ages 50-59, are still using them heavily.
Why are people in their 50s still swiping right at record numbers?
Suzannah Weiss, psychotherapist and resident sexologist for Fleshy, says:
“A lot of younger people got burnt out on dating apps during Covid, when in-person meetings became scarcer and more difficult. The older demographic may be newer to dating apps, as they may be recently separated or divorced, so the burnout factor is less common. When you’ve been using dating apps for years already, it’s easy to become jaded with all the message threads that don’t go anywhere and all of the failed dates. For older people who were in relationships previously, dating apps may instead be a novelty they are excited to try.”
Makes sense.
A New Twist in Celibacy
Just saying no to dating. Celibacy is in! Surprisingly, amongst teens. But it’s not just sex that’s declined among teens; it’s romantic relationships overall. Teens are dating less. A survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life found that only 56 percent of Gen Z adults—and 54 percent of Gen Z men—said they were involved in a romantic relationship at any point during their teenage years. They didn’t view them as a priority.
But, it’s not just teens, and it’s not just men. Women are dating and having less sex, too. Women are struggling to find jobs at unprecedented rates, as well as citing their resistance to being the anchor and providing increased “emotional support to men” (or “mankeeping” as it’s now coined). So, this could explain why some women are opting out of dating altogether. However, there is hope—as long as you’re understanding with men.
According to Buzzfeed, “Emotional fluency will take practice. And because expectations of manhood haven’t evolved as quickly as those for women, that practice must be met with patience.”
Furthermore, in my opinion, the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine had an indelible effect on our dating lives. Akin to working remotely, we just weren’t meeting people in the outside world anymore. Getting out to bars, lounges, restaurants, book stores, and even dating at work vanished. And the residual effects of that still linger. So, in order to reconcile this, we need to remove our metaphorical (and in some cases, literal, masks), and get into the dating scene again—that is if we actually want to…
As Laurel House says, “Modern love isn’t failing because people don’t want love. It’s struggling because love now competes with comfort, status, and safety—and intimacy always asks more of us than we expect.”
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