Singles Are Trying a Novel Approach to Dating: Meeting in Person
Maxine Williams's company, We Met IRL, hosts mixers and speed-dating events for young singles looking to find love without using the dating apps they've practically been raised on. Finding a partner offline feels like a 'fantasy' that exists only in movies to many of her peers, Ms. Williams, 29, said.
'People are wanting a meet-cute,' she added, though the first minutes of the dating events are hardly the stuff of great rom-coms. Attendees come hungry for in-person connection, Ms. Williams noted, but many are surprised by how awkward they feel.
'It's rough,' she stressed. 'Like, guys on one side, girls on the other side. It's very much middle-school vibes.'
There's plenty of evidence that singles are looking for love offline, the way people dated until the last few decades. Dating app burnout has become rampant, and platforms are struggling to attract and retain users, particularly younger ones. Match Group and Bumble have lost more than $40 billion in market value since 2021. Dating apps are in trouble, the headlines tell us; actually, they're dead. Mindless swiping is out, and 'intentional dating' with a plan and a clear goal is in.
The problem? Finding love in person has never been easy. And it can be particularly tricky for daters who are accustomed to having an endless stream of potential romantic prospects right at their fingertips.
'They're sort of trapped between these two worlds,' said Melissa Divaris Thompson, a marriage and family therapist in New York City. 'The online space doesn't feel great, and meeting somebody out in the world feels very vulnerable.'
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