As the new year dawns, I – like many others – feel obliged to sign up to dating apps with the promise of a shiny new year offering romantic hope for all the singles out there. But this year, even the mere thought of rejoining them fills me with apathy.
It just seems like we’ve collectively hit a wall with dating apps (and tech in general), yearning for those IRL connections of yesteryear. Or maybe just conversation that extends past the awful salutation – ‘Hey, how are you?’ – to a complete stranger you have little interest or knowledge of yet, followed by trying to drag a two-way conversation out of people. Honestly, it’s EXHAUSTING.
A few years ago, a (white) friend and I both joined a popular dating app. We’re the same age and have similar jobs. We even did our profiles together and put in relatively similar answers. The next day, we compared our matches; she received over 30 matches on her first day on the app. In contrast, I’d had just two, who were, without wanting to disparage them, totally unsuitable. One proudly wielding a fish as his sole (LOL) picture. The other was at least 20 years older than his reported 38.
