The truth about finding love in the modern world is that we’re all just trying to adapt to what’s possible. If generations before found their significant other through arranged meetups or through mutual friends, our world today mostly revolves around social media and online dating.
While it’s not impossible to find love online, it has certainly altered the way we view romantic relationships. Although some continue the search for love digitally, a growing trend in European countries also shows an increasing shift to traditional meetups.
What’s Online Dating Like in Europe?
Research shows that 1 in 7 young adults in Europe is without a romantic partner. While a relatively small amount, the demand for dating apps remains large. One app alone reports over 200,000 average downloads a week, indicating an existing interest in finding a romantic partner through digital means.
One study reports that a percentage of singles use apps to date casually, while 45.82 percent are using them in the hopes of finding a long-term romantic relationship.
While some European men have reported success after using a dating app, there has also been a slow shift in terms of dating habits. Although it remains popular, Europeans are slowly experiencing fatigue that comes with using dating apps.
While it can vary depending on the person, some causes of dating app fatigue may include:
- Consecutive rejections: If a user keeps getting rejected consistently, they may lose hope in finding a romantic partner.
- Being catfished: Experiencing deception can lead to a distrust in finding love online.
- Formulaic conversations: Constantly having to exchange introductions and receiving generic responses may be draining for some users.
- Repeated ghosting: Some users are left to wonder whether they did or said something wrong when their match suddenly starts ignoring them
- Overwhelming matches: With seemingly infinite choices of people to match with, some users experience pressure that can lead to fatigue.
Given all this, the slow shift in dating behavior seems to involve Europeans reverting to a more traditional approach. In Spain, for instance, hopeful singles have come up with a new trend of finding love in grocery stores.
That being said, the data still shows that dating apps are here to stay. Some Europeans may have undergone their fair share of dating app burnout, but rest assured, it’s not going away any time soon.
Why Is It Hard to Let Go of Dating Apps?
Making a promise is easier said than done. You might tell yourself that dating apps are worthless one day and find yourself swiping on potential matches the next. So, what gives?
The main issue is that dating apps can be addictive. Not only do they feel like just another mobile game, but there’s also the issue of getting dopamine spikes from constantly swiping on potential partners. Due to the instant gratification, it becomes harder to let go of.
Some negative effects of overusing dating apps can include:
- Self-doubt: Often experienced by users who constantly get rejected or receive fewer compliments compared to their peers.
- Emotional burnout: Results from repetitive yet unsatisfying encounters with matches.
- Setting unrealistic expectations: Being constantly underwhelmed by matches due to unrealistic and superficial expectations.
- Increased sensitivity: Constant rejection from others may result in increased emotional overwhelm, making simple acts triggering.
- Addiction: Feelings of instant gratification result in a constant need to open and use the dating app every single day.
What Needs to Be Improved of Online Dating?
While some users may play a part in feeding into their own dating app addiction, it’s worth recognizing that there’s more to it than just that. In fact, dating apps themselves are just as responsible for ensuring the welfare of their users.
Unfortunately, some companies and dating apps are also to blame for the addiction of some users. So, what can be improved?
User verification
Research shows that around 55 percent of online dating app users report seeing suspicious profiles on a weekly basis. This highlights the importance of verifying user identities and coming up with stricter and tighter sign-up forms.
Unfortunately, catfishing scams are no longer limited to real people preying on the vulnerabilities of others. Some have also resorted to using AI technologies like deepfakes in order to create convincing profiles.
Welfare checks
Aside from the potential physical harms people may experience as a result of using dating apps, it’s also worth looking into their negative mental effects. One of which includes deceptive body image outcomes, with 86 percent of studies indicating that dating apps can lead to a detrimental relationship with a person’s body image.
Using AI for Safety
Fortunately, some dating app companies have also leveraged AI for improving safety features. Aside from making more accurate algorithms for matches, AI can also be used to facilitate safety in dating app matches to reduce cases of harassment and other violations.
Find Connections Online (And Offline)
While it comes more naturally to Millennials and Gen X, fostering romantic connections offline remains possible for everyone despite the abundance of online matchmaking services.
Although it was thought to be a lost art just a few years ago, meeting potential partners through traditional means remains an existing and common approach.
That being said, should you just delete your dating profile? Not really.
Ultimately, it’s more important to find a balance between the different methods of dating. While it’s by no means perfect, responsibly using dating apps can sometimes lead to successful encounters. Alternatively, meeting someone via traditional means allows you to get to know them more thoroughly.
