Is Dating App Culture Dying?
Revisiting online dating after a hiatus reveals changes in app dynamics, with Raya now charging for premium access. Reflections on dating culture's shift towards hookups prompt musings on societal values and economic pressures. Personal anecdotes highlight disparities in dating dynamics and financial perceptions, culminating in a humorous take on luxury, preferences, and existential ponderings.
Revisiting the World of Online Dating
It's been a while since I ventured into the world of online dating. I wrote my first essay about dating in London almost ten years ago, when Tinder was still less than a million users. Now, Tinder is known for the hookup app. Needless to say, I stopped using dating apps when Raya kept matching me with the same guys who wouldn't respond and was based 3,000 miles away.
Lost in Algorithms
It was the summer of 2022, and I was gallivanting around Europe so much that when I settled back down in my home city, the algorithm had my profile stuck in Corsica.
A Peek at Raya
Then recently, I decided to re-download Raya, a private online dating app that requires you to be recommended, to see if I still had access to the community of A-list daters. Turns out, I do. But when I saw it now costs $50 a month to access a better selection of daters, I quickly abandoned any thought to a date.
Is Online Dating Culture Dying?
I digress, is online dating culture dying? All I hear are horrible hookup stories about subpar dates gone wrong!
The Enigma of Dating Dynamics
My friend Michael* and I often talk about dating, and unlike him, I'm not a rich tall white man. He is charming, in shape, and a catch to many women, and he flaunts it in my face about how many women ask to pleasure him. Unknowing to me, he has the choice to accept or decline. He spends his time snowboarding and has an apartment with a view overlooking downtown Manhattan, which he pays $4,500 a month for. What's wrong with him, you may ask, since he is not married and just turned 40? He works in crypto and is a recovering alcoholic. I'm assuming he dates immature girls who can't handle someone who is high up in his career. We often flirt in person, but if you've read this piece before, it doesn't end well.
Navigating Financial Dynamics in Relationships
The sprinkle sprinkle movement has infiltrated the tiktok girlies view on what their partners should be bringing to the table. You have to date on values and the money and flows, that's what someone told me. But these days, it seems like we're well on our way to a fifth wave feminism. Women want the soft life. Gen Z and millennials are realizing that the economy has gotten so bad, we can't afford $200 lashes and have reverted back to DIYing and drug store makeup. Even the marketing has changed. Hinge says the app was designed to be deleted, but they are clearly gatekeeping the hot sexy singles. What is it that makes us keep scrolling? According to research conducted by the PEW Institute,
The Quirks of Dating Preferences
The guy I'm dating thinks Kirkland is luxury, but his white tee shirts are from Nordstrom. That guy turned out to be a total criminal. Meanwhile, during a recent scroll through TikTok, a seemingly nice German Shepard style dude was reeling about how different the egg yolk color is on farm-raised eggs versus the cheaper cartoon. Are we living in a simulation, or am I too poor for that conversation?
