#dating-apps

#dating-apps

Two years ago, Luke Bailey had what became a controversial app idea - a dating app called Score for people with good to excellent credit. Launched just days before Valentine's Day, the app required users to have a credit score of at least 675 to register. At the time, Bailey said he created the app to encourage partners to talk more about personal finance since doing so is often uncomfortable for many people.

Monogamy, you may have heard, is in crisis. Fewer people are in relationships, let alone opting to be in one 'til death. And even those who have already exchanged vows seem to be increasingly looking for wiggle room. Quiet divorce mentally checking out of your union, rather than going through the rigmarole of formally dissolving it is reportedly on the rise, as is ethical non-monogamy (ENM) and opening up a relationship to include other partners.

In the US, nearly half of adults are single. A quarter of men suffer from loneliness. Rates of depression are on the rise. And one in four Gen Z adults-the so-called kinkiest generation, according to one study -have never had partnered sex. In an age of endless connection, where hooking up happens with the ease of a swipe and nontraditional relationship structures like polyamory are celebrated, why are people seemingly so disconnected and alone?

Finding your way with digital maps, making online bank transfers, looking things up on search engines Our digital habits are recent, yet so ingrained that going back to their analog versions feels unthinkable. Even something as ancient as flirting can now seem inseparable from screens. But a recent trend on social media suggests the story isn't over. A few months ago, a video titled Sit at the Bar September went viral.

But the start of another trip around the sun may spark a desire for new beginnings beyond the confines of the gym. It might be the perfect time to reevaluate your love life. The first Sunday in January, which has been dubbed " Dating Sunday," is the busiest time of year for dating apps. It's not all that surprising, as the new year is a time when people feel motivated to set goals for themselves. In this case, many singles are hunkering down and getting serious about finding a partner.

"Communicative, soulful and intentional," is how Kay, the founder of queer dating events Blind Match, described the experiences she offers. "Emotionally, mentally or physically drained," is how 78 per cent of 1,000 dating app users reported feeling when seeking romance online, according to a 2025 Forbes Health Survey. Tackling modern-day swipe culture is no easy feat, but Kay is determined to try. As the name suggests, the in-person matchmaking experience enables LGBTQ+ individuals to meet a potential partner, or future friend, completely blindfolded.

I (F/33) am single and have been since the end of my long-term college relationship. We were together for 5 years before calling it off in my mid-twenties and I've been on the apps, trying to meet people through friends and events ever since. I've had a few short-term relationships and maybe a handful of okay dates that went nowhere - but I haven't had someone I'd bring home to meet my family.

Dating apps' original pitch was to match you with anyone. "Swipe. Match. Chat. Date." That was Tinder's promise when it launched more than a decade ago, forecasting the endless cycle so many of its users now bemoan. Now they want to match you with the one. The giants in the dating space - Match Group's Hinge and Tinder, Grindr, and Bumble - are investing tens of millions into artificial intelligence, hoping to beat each other and the new AI-driven upstarts in the ultimate dating game.

Younger generations are showing us that sexuality is not a fixed category - it's a spectrum,

McLeod's new dating app, Overtone, plans to use "AI and voice tools to help people connect in a more thoughtful and personal way," according to a press release. Yet, few further details are known about the venture. "We're not going to talk a lot about [Overtone] quite yet," McLeod told Fast Company, "except to say that there's an opportunity to completely reimagine the dating experience and how technology can help facilitate people finding their partner-that breaks the mold of the way current dating apps are designed."

The firm behind the top platforms aims to keep singletons swiping and spending money on paid features for a constant stream of revenue, the documentary alleges. Lee Mackinnon, media and technology researcher at the University of the Arts London, says dating apps leave users in a 'constant state of hunger'. '[There's] this kind of reward system where you're getting positive feedback through likes, hits, swipes, so you just continue to go online,' she said.

A photo tells a thousand words, and having more than two photos ups your chances of getting a solid match, the CEOs said. Juay said that photos give people important information that helps them make a smart decision about whether to swipe right, so CMB users have to upload at least two pictures. The first order of business is to ensure that all pictures are of yourself, or risk getting barred from the app.

For many of us, especially those with anxious attachment patterns that were formed in early childhood, a pause in connection can feel like abandonment - not because it's the reality of the situation, but because it reminds us of old feelings and stories.

I spent three years on dating apps and came away with carpal tunnel, trust issues, and the emotional intelligence of a goldfish. Sound familiar? Here's what nobody wants to admit: dating apps haven't democratized love-they've weaponized loneliness. While 50% of engaged couples now meet online, 70% of new relationships fail within the first year.We've created the most sexually frustrated, emotionally disconnected generation in American history. The only thing standing between us and complete romantic collapse?Couples therapy podcasts that actually understand what we're dealing with.

During the sign-up process, new members complete a "liveness check" by taking a short video selfie within the app. The procedure collects and stores an encrypted map of information about the shape of the user's face. "We don't store a picture of your face, it's not photo recognition, it's data points about the shape of your face that are turned into a mathematical hash," says Yoel Roth, head of Trust and Safety for Match Group, which owns Tinder. Tinder then uses that "hash" to check whether a new sign-up matches an account that already exists on Tinder.

The first and only time I've used dating apps was in the spring of 2021. I'd just moved to Los Angeles and wanted to see more of the city. But I soon grew tired of the actors, musicians and DJs who hounded me to attend their events; not to mention I didn't feel safe with total strangers and I'm particular about hygiene.

The three men who traveled to Menlo Park to meet up with a 13-year-old, who was really a police officer, were charged today by the District Attorney's Office, a prosecutor said. Police conducted a sting operation where an officer posed as a 13-year-old girl on WhatsApp and Badoo, a dating website, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. The officer spoke to three men, who, despite learning they were texting a minor, continued to text back, Wagstaffe said.

Three to five years from now, probably sooner than that, honestly, it will feel relatively arcane to feel like you had to go through hundreds of profiles, if not more, in order to get out on a date,

I feel such a huge responsibility playing a real person, so I would sit in front of her MasterClass and mimic along, copy the hand gestures,