Can Matchmaking Platforms Save Us From Dating App Fatigue?

One might assume, with good reason, that a romantic recession is underway. That’s the story the numbers tell, at least. Forty-seven percent of US adults say dating is more difficult today than it was a decade ago, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Even as singledom is on a downward slope—in 2023, 42 percent of adults were unpartnered compared to 44 percent in 2019, a different Pew survey found—it doesn’t feel that way. The dating landscape is in the throes of another tectonic shift. People still crave love but are increasingly distrustful of apps that have failed to deliver on the promise of partnership, burned out by the gamification of romance. App fatigue is at an all-time high, and a growing segment of young daters no longer want to leave the future of their love life to chance. That, more than anything, has changed where people look for love these days: offline, in curated spaces. “Dating apps aren’t the enemy,” says Stephanie Scheele, cofounder of Singles Only Socia ... Read full article.