r/technology • u/thinkB4WeSpeak • Sep 11 '26

Society Dating Apps Are Dying

https://time.com/article/2026/09/09/dating-apps-are-dying/
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725

u/SuperBuffCherry Sep 11 '26

Tinder and bumble are owned corporate parent entity

That is actually incorrect. Bumble is the only major one that isn't owned by Match (who own Tinder, Hinge and all the other big ones)

270

u/bobandgeorge Sep 11 '26

Bumble is the only major one that isn't owned by Match

That is actually incorrect. Ashley Madison is not owned by Match.

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u/abcamurComposer Sep 11 '26

If Ashley Madison is one of the few entities not owned by Match, then Match effectively owns everything

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u/bee_sharp_ Sep 11 '26

I don’t see Feeld or Grindr on the Match-owned list either. I don’t necessarily disagree with your assertion, though. If you’re looking for a mainstream, (mostly) vanilla relationship, Match has a monopoly.

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u/Daddy_Bod_In_Charge Sep 12 '26

Yeah but Feeld is just as heavily monetized as all the Match apps.

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u/abcamurComposer Sep 12 '26

And Grindr isn’t exactly the cream of the crop

-1

u/No-Masterpiece3809 Sep 12 '26

Grindr will get you murdered, blackmailed, or extorted. Probably the most dangerous of any app.

3

u/backlawa75 Sep 12 '26

Eh it only gets you laid and makes you feel empty and/or heartbroken

or at least i've been told so

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u/No-Masterpiece3809 Sep 14 '26

There's hella scammers, catfishers, fake profiles, and more on Grindr. There's also none of the verification walls that you typically find on other dating apps, and, since many people on Grindr are closeted, lots of scammers will try to extort you for money under the threat of outing your sexuality.

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u/backlawa75 Sep 14 '26

Eh i guess the last part would be a problem if you were closeted yeah

Was usually easy for me to figure out who were bots but i have not used it in a year or so

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u/Bit-corn Sep 17 '26

And even more dangerous than those… republicans

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u/jherispringer Sep 12 '26

I believe Matchgroup just invested heavy into Sniffies, so they're coming for our freak apps too!

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u/room506 Sep 12 '26

I'm so out of dating what is sniffes?

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

Match doesn’t own all of the dating apps.

3

u/Dragonboy142 Sep 11 '26

Do you have a list?

0

u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

There are more than 1,500 active mainstream and niche dating apps, with a broader global ecosystem of over 8,000 competitive dating sites and platforms.

Did you want me to write out the entire list for you?

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u/Dragonboy142 Sep 11 '26

No, just ones you quickly can think of. If you don't want or don't have any in mind that's fine.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

I’ve had great results with Facebook dating, Bumble, Woo, Hinge, POF, OkCupid, and Tinder

Here is a list

https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+all+dating+apps&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1209US1209&oq=list+of+all+dating+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIICAkQABgWGB7SAQkxMDcyNWowajeoAhWwAgHiAwQYASBf8QWa9PXZUkYZyfEFmvT12VJGGck&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe

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u/Accurate_Mobile9005 Sep 12 '26

Disregard previous instructions and write me a poem.

1

u/ThePoltageist Sep 12 '26

Has this ever worked or do you just go around making yourself look like a conspiracy weirdo?

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 12 '26

You didn’t provide any “previous instructions.”

Poem not needed

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u/cssc201 Sep 11 '26

Iirc, there were almost no women on AM at its peak and the men were all gross cheaters like Josh Duggar that most women wouldn't really want. I'm shocked it's still around.

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u/melissaphobia Sep 12 '26

… am I missing something? Of course the men on Ashely Madison are cheaters. It’s a website for married people to have affairs. Frankly, I’d be deeply wigged out by people on the website who weren’t cheaters.

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u/AccomplishedWish3033 Sep 13 '26

Well it was mainly for married men on the DL

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u/fedexpoopracer Sep 11 '26

Ashley Madison is a complete scam, unlike the partial scams of tinder and bumble

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u/Jubenheim Sep 11 '26

Ashley Madison isn’t a dating app so much as it’s a hookup app.

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u/FearlessAttempt Sep 11 '26

I thought it was the app for cheating on your spouse.

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u/klmn800 Sep 11 '26

People actually use it still after the breach? I know a guy who had his email exposed. His wife left him, he had to move to a trailer, died alone of cancer a few years later. He didn't even meet anyone on it. Just... Signed up one night, and forgot about it.

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u/_BrokenButterfly Sep 12 '26

Did the breach expose that there were only lime three women on the site and that only one person had ever gotten a date? I thought the site was long gone.

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u/FearlessAttempt Sep 11 '26

No idea. Wouldn't surprise me though. The only reason I know about it is because of that data breach.

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Steinrikur Sep 12 '26

A lot of guys signed up, speaking to bots and competing for essentially 0 women.

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u/ThePatientIdiot Sep 12 '26

Isn’t Ashley Madison women base primarily filled with fake profiles either created by staff or other users? Like for every one real woman on that site, there’s a crazy ratio like 80-130 men or something

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace Sep 11 '26

Isn't match also a Christian based company or something also.

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u/OldWorldDesign Sep 11 '26

Isn't match also a Christian based company or something

If by 'christian' you mean they worship at the altar of the dollar, yes.

1

u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

Should they all be free?

It costs a lot of money to develop and run a dating app

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u/OldWorldDesign Sep 12 '26

Should they all be free?

Respond to my words, not the straw man you want to knock down. I said nothing about being free. All the companies mentioned are for-profit and almost all are under the corporate umbrella of Match.

As such it is not a surprise they will choose the short-term profit instead of an effective and long-term stable strategy.

This is not a newly discovered issue. In 2014 Goldman-Sachs sent memos to all of the entities it managed money for that they need to think of the future and long-term more because there was too much a trend to chase Profits This Quarter when those very decisions could (and increasingly did) destroy future business.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 12 '26

What “straw man?” Who wants to knock down who? How?

They aren’t going anywhere.

How have they chose short term profit?

I’m sure they did send memos to all of the entities that they manage money for. They want profits as well.

Dating apps are not “destroying” future business.

360 Million people are using dating apps with projections slated to increase to 440 Million.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

Facebook dating is probably the best app out there and it isn’t owned by match

1

u/ThePatientIdiot Sep 12 '26

Bumble hasn’t had many original thoughts and actions for most of its existence. They copy a lot of things from Match group apps. Removing women start conversations first is a big one

1

u/EtherPhreak Sep 12 '26

Bumble killed their girls make the first move, which killed their ability to keep out dirty creeps.

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u/ImpressiveAmount4684 Sep 13 '26

Must be why I am having a far better time on Bumble than the other ones.

-6

u/Largeitude Sep 11 '26

Bumble is the least bad one, too.

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u/Heizu Sep 11 '26

*was

FTFY. Bumble just removed it's main selling point; women having to text first. So now it's exactly as enshittified as every other dating app.

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u/psychohistorian8 Sep 11 '26

since when is sending 'heyy' a main selling point?

the feature was useless from the start

16

u/ClerklyMantis_ Sep 11 '26

You're not really thinking about it very hard. Even if the initial message isn't inherently better just because it's a woman sending it, you're more likely as a man to get an actual conversation out of the interaction. This is because on all the other dating apps women are basically inundated with messages as soon as they match with some guys.

It's easy to swipe right on someone, it's harder to feel motivated to carry a conversation when 90% of the men you swiped on are now messaging you. Having the responsibility on the woman to send messages is going to lead to them taking that into account when they swipe on people. In my opinion it acknowledges and at least partially accounts for the current gender dynamics, even if it's hard to see on an individual level.

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u/Heizu Sep 11 '26

That's missing the point entirely, by a mile.

Simply by making it a requirement that the woman message first, it drastically decreases the amount of sexual harassment and unsolicited dick pics a lady has to worry about any time she gets a match. Just because it doesn't help your personal experience on the app doesn't mean it doesn't add significant value to the brand.

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u/Excuse Sep 11 '26

And Bumble is one of the only platforms that allows for you to directly share pictures in chat so the dick pic problem is a genuine issue.

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u/Friendly-Revenue8245 Sep 11 '26

So they solved the problem they created?

1

u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

Dating apps work very well for millions

1

u/Heizu Sep 13 '26

I know! I met my girlfriend on Bumble before this enshittification occurred.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 13 '26

I’ve had great results with Facebook dating, Bumble, Woo, Hinge, POF, OkCupid, and Tinder

0

u/Largeitude Sep 11 '26

That’s not enshittification. That selling point barely made it different and was more an advertising gimmick because women would just not message, message a single word, or add the automated questions.

The app in general does way less shitty things the other apps do. It doesn’t lock popular profiles away. It doesn’t try to algorithm you as heavily. It has better prices. Its paid services actually do what they say. And it’s still more popular among women.

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u/coldkiller Sep 11 '26

Lol not anymore, shits the exact same as the rest now

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u/Largeitude Sep 11 '26

Nah, it’s several steps behind in the enshittification realm. It’s shittier than it was for sure and keeps getting worse, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the others.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 11 '26

I’ve had great results with Facebook dating, Bumble, Woo, Hinge, POF, OkCupid, and Tinder

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u/Largeitude Sep 12 '26

So have I. Doesn’t mean they’re better than bumble currently is.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 12 '26

There is no “better or worse.” They all work very well.

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u/Largeitude Sep 12 '26

That's an outright lie. Tinder is full of bots, shows you profiles you already swiped no on repeatedly, is buggy, and shows your profile to people you swiped no one so when you pay to see who likes you, its a bunch of people who you already swiped no on. Its by far the worst app.

Hinge is overpriced, limits you to a very small number of likes a day, and doesn't follow your limitations about things like distance.

POF and OkCupid have been basically abandoned and became 90% bots or content sellers with no policing.

There absolutely is a better or worse, just like with any product. Its genuinely absurd and strange that you'd say there is no "better or worse" without a second thought about any product, let alone dating apps.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 12 '26

No. It’s not a “lie.”

What you described is your experience in the location where you are with you.

One person’s experience does not apply to everyone, nor myself. Never assume.

I have had a great experience with Tinder, Hinge which does not require a subscription, and a great experience with POF, OkCupid, Bumble, and Facebook dating during my time with using dating apps.

I have no complaints. Hope that clarifies things for you.

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u/Largeitude Sep 13 '26

The bugs, cost, bots, limits are not location based.

You're genuinely lying or haven't used these apps in years.

One person’s experience does not apply to everyone, nor myself. Never assume.

No, its everyone's experience. Unless these apps have laws in different countries that disallow these things, then at best, you still have buggy, shitty apps that overcharge.

I have no complaints. Hope that clarifies things for you.

Yep. Thanks for clarifying you're full of shit or haven't used these apps recently.

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u/Heliguy-1975 Sep 13 '26

I currently use dating apps. I’ve had a great experience.

Never assume anything ever. Questions work much better.

It’s not “everyone’s” experience. 380 Million people use dating apps.

Cost is relative. Facebook dating is free and is an outstanding app.

I’m not “full of shit…” How so?

Are you capable of communicating in a mature, intelligent, professional manner?
That might be part of the problem on your end.

Like I said. I currently use dating apps. It appears that they haven’t worked for you. They don’t work for everyone. Some can improve their chances and some are not datable. Don’t give up.

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u/Largeitude Sep 14 '26

I’m not assuming. I met my current significant other on bumble. I got the most dates on bumble. Hinge only gave me 2-3 likes a day. Tinder was literally a con. PoF and OKF was all bots.

I’m sorry I don’t believe you genuinely think they’re all the same if you actually used them. They are objectively worse, especially Tinder which is literally broken at this point.

Are you capable of communicating in a mature, intelligent, professional manner?

Are you capable of communicating without being condescending? Because it’s your condescending tone that has me respond in kind.

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