The popular dating application Tinder was launched on Sept. 12, 2012, meaning it’s been around for almost 10 years. Tinder is known for its swiping feature. If you want to potentially match with a person, you swipe right. If you don’t, you swipe left. That swipe changed dating forever.
According to CNBC, Tinder co-founder Jonathan Badeen came up with the swiping feature when he was in the shower. Badeen swiped at a foggy mirror when he came out of the hot shower and then coded it into Tinder’s platform. Since then, Tinder has become notorious for the swipe.
Now there are many different dating applications: Bumble, Hinge, Mutual, Christian Mingle, Farmers Only. Have these dating applications made us date differently?
How do dating applications impact people?
The New York Times published an article that includes longtime online daters’ experiences with dating apps and how it impacts their mental health. One user named Abby said, “I just feel burned out. It really is almost like this part-time job.”
Abby told the Times that while using dating apps, she has been harassed by one match and feels pressured to have sex with other matches. She said she feels burned out, but she also feels compelled to keep using dating apps. Essy Knopf said that after his regular use of dating apps, “You start to feel very disposable. You start to feel like the promise of connection is just out of reach.”
A study conducted at University of North Texas found that people who use Tinder experience more adverse mental health effects than people who don’t. According to Pew Research, 45% of dating app users say that dating apps left them frustrated. Only 28% say that the apps left them hopeful.
What do the majority of people do to date someone?
Three in 10 Americans say that they have used a dating app, according to Pew Research. Unsurprisingly, the younger generations use dating apps much more than older generations. Forty-eight percent of U.S. adults age 18-48 have used dating apps.
A 2022 Pew Research study found the pandemic complicated dating for most people. Sixty-three percent of single people who are looking to date say that the pandemic has made it harder to date than it was before. Many daters are still using technology to date.
An article about Helen Fisher’s research on pandemic dating stated that more Americans are looking to settle down during and after the pandemic than they were before the pandemic. Additionally, video dates have become more popular. More than 50% of Gen Z and millennials video chat before the first date.
If using algorithms to find love isn’t for you, some millennials are turning to offline dating after experiencing the burnout circle one too many times.