In August, a swarm of hopeless and horny romantics on Reddit disputed the pros and cons of Bumble, the dating app that requires women to make the first move. Other Redditors openly shared how they met their partners on the app, but the consensus was unequivocally clear: Bumble, like the majority of dating apps currently on the market, is bad. After a decade of swiping left and sliding into DMs, many people are now longing for a simplification of the dating pool.
As with so much about the internet, online dating made everything accessible all at once and turned socializing into something of a competitive sport. Waves, swipes, likes, and roses embodied the desires of a generation of users ravenous to find connection however they could.
But the glow has worn off , and there is growing sentiment among young people that dating apps, once considered the future of romantic connection, are broken. Facebook Dating is all old people. Raya is full of posturing. Davis observed last year , reflecting on the Olympian level of difficulty modern dating presents for many people thirsty for connection. Dating app disillusionment is felt most strongly among college students, according to a new study from Axios and research firm Generation Lab.
Users get frustrated with this. That young people in college are choosing to forgo digital connection is not as shocking as the study suggests, says Paul Eastwick, a psychologist at UC Davis who specializes in the nature of attraction. The culture of online dating will continue to evolve , as it has over the past decade. Although many young people are taking a more traditional alternative to appsβwhile also relying on options like Date Me docs βthat has not stopped Gen Z from being vocal about the culture that surrounds modern relationships.
Since the publication of her book, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus , Kathleen Bogle, a sociologist at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, says the biggest evolution in dating culture was prompted by women, who have brought more transparency to the dating process.
