Where people actually meet

In summer 2025, SuperJob, a major Russian job site, asked working Russians where they met their partner. The top three: work (14%), social media and messengers (13%), and the street (10%). After that came mutual friends, college, dating sites, cafes, vacations and parties.

The most interesting item on that list is school. High school, vocational school and college together account for a noticeable share of couples, and after graduation that channel closes for good. Hence the familiar feeling: people used to be everywhere, and now they've disappeared. They haven't gone anywhere. It's just that nobody gathers them in one room five days a week anymore — now that's your job.

Repetition beats crowds

In 1950, psychologists studying a student housing complex noticed something funny: friendships formed not by shared interests, but by stairwell. With the neighbor next door, with the person whose door was by the mailboxes. People got close to whoever they saw most often.