For a decade, apps have dominated dating. But now singles are growing tired of swiping and are looking for new ways to meet people – or reverting to old ones

‘It’s quite soul-destroying’: how we fell out of love with dating apps::For a decade, apps have dominated dating. But now singles are growing tired of swiping and are looking for new ways to meet people – or reverting to old ones

    • abracaDavid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      191·
      1 year ago

      All these dating apps are owned by the same company and are all kinda scammy. It’s very much a pay to play scenario.

      Back when OkCupid first came out and they hadn’t figured out how to make you pay for everything, it was awesome. I went on so many dates.

      Fast forward to last year and I’m dating again and try OkCupid and it was a totally different experience. I never would get messages organically. You have to subscribe to the premium package and then you have to pay to get more super likes so that women actually see your account. It’s pretty ridiculous.

      So don’t use it as a gage to judge yourself. It’s just about how much money you spend on the app.

      • pete_the_cat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        1 year ago

        My buddy has been married for like 2 or 3 years to a really cool, smart, and beautiful woman. He dated her for like a year or two before, and they had known each other before that. When I was hanging out with him one night, the topic of dating and the apps came up, I told him it was all a scam now, they want you to pay for everything. He was like “WTF? They only give you a certain amount of free swipes a day and then you either have to pay more or wait? That’s some bullshit bro.”

        Of course before you pay they entice you by saying you have like 10 or 15 matches, but you need to pay to see who they are. One you pay that number is cut in half or less, and they’re usually not people you’d be attracted to anyway

        • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          stroking one’s own ego and dopamine hits from the randomness of collecting matches

          I know that’s what a lot of people get out of it but it’s so surreal to me because my experience has always been the exact opposite. I get virtually no matches or likes, so being on a dating app is just a steady drain on my confidence, and the more I try to engage with the app, the worse it gets.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      1 year ago

      You’re out there dodging bullets my man. Don’t let others define your self worth.

      Sorry I can’t help with the dating advice. I’m old as fuck and married forever and the modern dating scene seems weird to me.

      For what it’s worth, my son met a lovely girl while travelling. He also met lots of cool people through local online groups in the areas he was traveling to. Not sure if that’s useful at all.

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      62·
      1 year ago

      I feel you bro. I lived in Manhattan for 3 years and got maybe 3 dates, a lot were just conversations on the app that went nowhere. I was like how the hell can I not find someone in a city of 8 million people (NYC in general)?! My buddy met his wife on Hinge during COVID. All it showed me was transgender people and “bottom of the barrel” people where I was like “you can’t seriously think that this is a good picture of you”. We lived about 4 miles apart.

      I think the biggest kick in the balls was when my ex and I broke up. I went on bumble and literally 3 profiles in it recommended her to me!

      I’ve had friends, professionals, and strangers on Reddit review my profiles, my therapist (who was around my age) looked over my profiles too. Everyone said there wasn’t really anything bad that stood out to them. If they did have any suggestions they usually conflicted what someone else had told me.

      It’s been 8 long, lonely, depressing years. I’ve gone to social events via meetup and most of them were either dudes outnumbering women like 4:1 of it was a big mixer, or if it was something small it would be like 5 or 6 people just standing around at a bar or something being awkward. I started going to board and cars game nights three times a week, one of them had a fair amount of attractive women, but they always had their guard up because all the lonely dudes there would have the same idea. I became friendly with two of the cute regulars early on, I played it cool for a while. When we were waiting to order drinks at the bar one of them said “ugh, all these guys won’t stop hitting on me, I just want to play games.” and I was thinking “well… Shit…”

      I finally got so fed up with everyone being so closed off up there (and other reasons) that I just moved 1300 miles away to Miami where everyone is a lot friendlier. I’ve only been here for 1.5 weeks and it definitely isn’t as easy to find social events to meet women and make friends like there was in NYC. They largely all sucked, but at least the opportunity was there. People are at least more willing to talk to strangers here though!

    • isthingoneventhis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      1 year ago

      Hobbies if you have time or money? And not hobbies for the sake of trying to find someone romantically, but something you genuinely enjoy. Local game stores can be a good way to find out about other adjacent events (if they are big enough) or trivia nights at bars, etc.

        • isthingoneventhis@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Ahh most of my hobbies have mostly outpriced me as well.

          When I was motivated to go out and do hobby stuff, it was mostly a male dominated space so 90% of the time I just felt like a meat bag, and it really killed my desire to go out and do hobby stuff. So I ended up mostly at home.

        • isthingoneventhis@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Picking up something for the sake of finding someone is a shit reason to pick a hobby, to be frank. You mentioned the girl who said all the guys kept hitting on her and she was trying to just have a beer or whatever, that’s how it feels from a woman’s perspective. You’re just trying to go out and do something menial in life that everyone should be able to enjoy unmolested, or have the right to at bare minimum, and suddenly it’s dick o’clock.

          I mean idk. I see it from a woman’s perspective, having been in that situation numerous times, I can tell you 90000% of life would be easier if I was just a dude. I could just go out and enjoy absolutely banal, stupidly mindless shit and nobody would bat an eye, because penis, I guess? Being objectified blows ass.

          Not saying you were one of “those” guys, but to put it in perspective maybe, both of you were at opposite ends of the lonely spectrum, and felt isolated for different reasons.

          I think everyone would be a lot happier in life, or at least at peace, with some solid introspection and having a sit down (with yourself) about things. There is so much social pressure to go out and do XYZ because fomo and you get so easily swept up in it when your immediate social and cultural circle is constructed on potentially damaging or dated concepts. I think there is much more to be gleaned from asking why you feel a certain way then trying to find how to put a bandaid on it.