Latest news with #onlineDating
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
2 Ways Online Dating Advice Is Draining You, By A Psychologist
Somehow, we've all come to hate imperfections. The more we bury ourselves in the carefully curated worlds of influencers, we start to look down upon those around us who show any 'flaws.' This includes people who may have shown signs of interest in us, but the only problem is, they're not 'perfect.' Because, if these online creators can seemingly have it all when it comes to love, what's holding us back? Often, it's our own unique circumstances that we fail to take into account. Here are two ways relying on online dating advice may be hurting your chances of finding a stable relationship and making it work. Influencer-driven dating advice offers actionable tips that could potentially help you in the dating world. They may present advice in videos like 'Twenty-five things I want to share on my twenty-fifth birthday,' 'If he does this, he is not the one for you,' or 'Get ready with me as I talk about the type of person you should never go out with.' The visual and spoken hooks are catchy enough for younger audiences to watch and relate to. However, such content also often presents relationships in black-and-white terms: secure or toxic, green flag or red flag, high-value or low-value. While this kind of content can feel validating at times, it also creates unrealistic expectations. Much like red-pill content for men, a 2024 study explains that there is a growing body of women who propagate dating strategies that fall under the branch of 'feminist realism.' They may see patriarchy as deeply rooted, so they advocate for women to learn to win within the system, instead of trying to change the whole system. Researchers highlight how such content creators may use a specific aesthetic, such as the 'hot pink queen' aesthetic, to reinforce the idea that women should treat themselves like royalty and expect to be treated that way too. 'People find it anti-feminist that a man is taking care of a woman, but I think it's anti-feminist that a woman is literally doing everything, and on top of that, she also has to work. Like she has to take care of the children, of the home, she has to be a cook, nanny, cleaner, everything. Who is winning here?' says YouTuber and influencer TheWizardLiz, who speaks about the importance of receiving princess treatment and being in relationships with high-earning men. While she and others recognize the invisible load that women carry in a relationship on top of the work they do outside of the home, it can also set certain expectations that men and women need to perform traditional roles, without which their relationship may be doomed. But it does not acknowledge the fact that the reality may, in fact, look different for all. Moreover, when your favorite influencer opens up about being ghosted or cheated on, it can feel destabilizing to their audience who might wonder, 'If they can't make love work, what hope is there for anyone else?' As a result, you retreat into a shell, convinced that unless someone ticks every box, they're not worth your time. It can give rise to 'checklist dating' wherein you only date partners based on a series of fixed traits or behaviors. If they fail to meet all your criteria, you start wondering if something is wrong with you or the world or perhaps, both. You give up, thinking that it's probably not the right time for you to date or the right person has not found you yet. Or, maybe you need to be 'fully healed' before you meet them. The problem with this mindset is that many single people become too scared to put themselves out there and try to make relationships work. By chasing the fantasy of a 'perfect partner,' they may be missing out on the messy, beautiful process of growing with someone in real time. Social media can fuel your paranoia. The most viral dating content tends to be prescriptive and alarmist. This is because social media is algorithmic and it wants you to stay on the app as long as possible. Think videos with hooks like: 'If he doesn't plan the second date in 24 hours, he's not serious,' or 'If she says this one phrase, she's gaslighting you.' But these videos never give you the full context of what's happening. They're often based on personal experiences of the people narrating them or simply meant to be rage-bait. It's also tough to fit the nuances of relationships neatly into a 30-second video. Over time, consuming this content conditions you to view relationships through a lens of suspicion and scarcity. You start watching for signs of manipulation everywhere. It becomes tough for you to open up to new people and new experiences, because you're solely focused on trying to figure out what their red flags are. But unless you take a chance, you will never truly know. Don't ignore your intuition, but also don't go by what content creators advocate for, thinking that is the standard, because it's not. No amount of TikTok therapy can eliminate the inherent risk of dating. The more you rely on external advice to manage your love life, the less confident you become in your own instincts. Ultimately, excessive social media use can hurt your real-world romantic relationship, if you are in one. A 2021 study published in Social Science Computer Review shows that too much time on Instagram can lower relationship satisfaction, cause more fights and can even lead to addiction. This may be because you feel jealous when you see your real-life partner liking someone else's photos or their past interactions with exes online. You may also feel more insecure and lonely if you're often competing for their time and attention due to their constant social media use. And when you go back to various apps and creators to learn how to solve relationship problems, your anxiety rises. It's like a loop you cannot seem to escape. So, start treating your dating life like an experience you get to live, rather than a formula you have to crack. It's one thing to use the Internet to solve day-to-day problems like fixing a tire. But if you start using it to fix cracks in your relationship, you might find yourself failing on more occasions than one. Date intuitively, and trust your judgment when it comes to choosing potential partners. If that means you deal with heartbreak every once in a while, so be it. Do you think you might be holding out for the 'perfect' partner? Take this science-backed test to find out: Sense Of Relational Entitlement Scale
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘I lost $1m to a pig-butchering scam'
Jacqueline Crenshaw turned 60 last year and celebrated with a $80,000 (£59,000) party on a yacht. But she was hiding a secret from her 130 guests. She had been scammed by a man with whom she'd been in an online relationship for a year. 'I learnt this three weeks before my party. Already $70,000 had been put into it. I couldn't cancel it, I had 130 guests coming,' she says. Her boyfriend – who she knew as Brandon Miller – had promised to pay for everything. 'I had to scrape together another $12,000 to pay everyone. The party went off without a hitch. It was actually amazing, and no one knew. I was holding in this information.' Gifts of such extravagant amounts are a hallmark of a type of fraud called 'pig-butchering' scams, designed to effectively 'fatten up' the victim by building trust and legitimacy. The fraudsters often push victims into making 'investments', which are never actually invested. Crenshaw is still calculating the scale of the scam, though experts think she was defrauded out of $1m, including credit cards taken out in her name. She should be looking forward to retirement, but that's no longer possible. 'I wanted companionship' Crenshaw is a pillar of her community. She has worked in healthcare for more than 40 years, and manages a radiology team at the largest hospital in Connecticut. With no children, and 10 years out of her last serious relationship, in the early summer of 2023 she tried online dating. 'I thought I was one of the sharper tacks in the box,' she says. 'It wasn't that I was lonely or anything like that. I have a big job, a busy job, but I was 59 and just wanted to share all the things. 'I had everything I needed, I didn't need anything from anyone. But I did want companionship.' She signed up for a dating app called BLK, which advertises itself to black Americans. Crenshaw says: 'I talked to a couple of people, and I was like, 'I don't know if this is for me,' but then there was this one particular picture. He had these blue eyes, and I thought, 'Wow, his eyes are really pretty.' So I commented, and a day or so later he responded.' He told her that he was a widower with two young children, originally from New York but working in Virginia. The children were in Brooklyn with their nanny – or so Crenshaw was told. They spoke every day over text messages and phone calls, but never on video. 'The one thing that most people ask, which is probably the craziest thing, is that I never saw his face,' she says. But he built trust slowly, persistently, and she was eventually won over. After weeks and months of discussions, and messages supposedly from his children, they began talking about investing and cryptocurrencies. The scammer told her he'd got into crypto during lockdown. 'Several weeks went by and then he started asking me about investing,' she says. Crenshaw initially withdrew $40,000 from a retirement account, known as a 401(k), to invest, to which her boyfriend added $60,000, as a 'gift'. Then he told her she'd get a cheque for $100,000 as her 'return'. 'Lo and behold, I got a cheque for $100,000,' she says. 'The cheque was made out to me from a woman in Florida.' This set off alarm bells. Worried that this was a fraud, Crenshaw went to her local police station in East Haven, Connecticut, in September 2023. 'The officer just blew me off: 'Ha ha ha, just see if it clears,' he said. If he had taken five minutes and made a call, I wouldn't be talking to anyone about this right now.' Still unsure, Crenshaw called the bank which had issued the cheque, but was reassured that it was a legitimate payment. She would later discover that the woman who had sent her the cheque had been told that she was an investor, and that she'd sent more cheques to other 'investors'. Romance scams of a whole new level 'Pig-butchering' scams gain the trust of their victims over a long period, and usually combine an element of romance with the lure of making money through investment schemes or cryptocurrency. The assets involved can range from crypto to whisky, or holiday cottages abroad. These scams can be particularly devastating because they are combined with romance scams. Romance scams have come to prominence after the so-called 'Tinder Swindler' was unmasked. Victims are tricked into believing they're in romantic relationships so they will lower their guard and feel obligated to help the fraudster, who they sometimes believe to be in financial difficulty.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bumble Inc. (BMBL): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on Bumble Inc. (BMBL) on @catapultcap on X (Twitter). In this article, we will summarize the bulls' thesis on BMBL. Bumble Inc. (BMBL)'s share was trading at $5.72 as of 23rd May. BMBL's trailing and forward P/E were 18.79 and 9.64 respectively according to Yahoo Finance. Photo by Good Faces Agency on Unsplash Online dating is currently experiencing a correction, with total monthly active users (MAUs) across major apps dropping to levels last seen in 2018. Despite losing the initial hype and novelty that followed Tinder's launch, and growing awareness of some drawbacks, the fundamental appeal of online dating remains strong. It has become the primary way people meet, surpassing traditional methods such as introductions by friends, meeting at bars, or at work. This shift is unlikely to reverse, meaning the industry's MAUs are expected to bottom out and return to growth in the coming years. Within this evolving landscape, more 'serious' platforms like Bumble and Hinge are poised to gain market share, while apps perceived as spammy, like Tinder, may lose ground. This expectation is supported by the belief that Bumble trades at an attractive valuation of less than seven times unlevered earnings, making it a compelling investment opportunity amid the sector's correction. Previously, we have covered Bumble, Inc. (BMBL) in April 2025, wherein we summarized a bullish thesis by DeepValueInsights on the Value Investing Subreddit Page. DeepValueInsights highlighted that the stock was deeply undervalued, trading at just 5.1x EV/EBITDA and generating a strong 25% free cash flow yield despite recent net losses. The company maintained solid cash reserves and capital discipline through buybacks, and while debt refinancing posed some risks, its strong brand and user base suggested meaningful long-term upside potential. However, the article noted that other AI stocks might offer greater returns in a shorter timeframe. Since our previous coverage, the stock is up 30.59% as of 26th May. Bumble Inc. (BMBL) is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 33 hedge fund portfolios held BMBL at the end of the fourth quarter which was 31 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of BMBL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BMBL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- TechCrunch
Meet LoveJack, the dating app designed for users to find love using just five words
As Kevin Malone from 'The Office' once said, 'Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?' For Julia LeStage and Lisa Le, the creators of a new dating app called LoveJack, finding love online doesn't have to feel like filling out a mountain of paperwork. Sometimes, all you need are a few carefully chosen words to spark a connection. LoveJack profiles look like those on other blind dating apps, but with a twist. Instead of blurred or hidden profiles, users see five words chosen by potential matches. When users press and hold on their phone screens (the app doesn't use swiping mechanics), profile pictures are then revealed. The five words can be anything from personal traits and jokes to current feelings or even random details, such as the ingredients in their lunch sandwich— an entertaining tactic that we saw one beta user try during our testing. The idea is that the five-word constraint allows users to be creative while also challenging them to be concise and clever, encouraging more witty conversations and moving away from mundane questions like 'What do you do for a living?' or overused pickup lines. LeStage and Le decided to create LoveJack after being frustrated with the way online dating profiles often resemble job resumes—complete with posed photos, filters, and carefully crafted bios that can feel exaggerated. 'This is not LinkedIn. Where has the fun gone?' LeStage told TechCrunch, reflecting a sentiment shared by many online daters, which may explain why dating giants like Tinder have faced challenges in recent quarters. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW LeStage got the idea while working as a judge for the Webby Awards, which notoriously limits winners to five-word speeches. The app also takes inspiration from The New York Times' popular Wordle game. She shared with us that when she re-entered the dating scene, apps sucked the fun out of the experience, noting that traditional platforms emphasize superficial judgments based on appearance. So she decided to use the five-word challenge on her dates to spice things up, which helped her realize that people tended to use words that 'advertised' their way of thinking. 'It's the stories behind the words that matter,' LeStage explained. For instance, she spoke with someone who mentioned the word 'disco.' When she asked him more about it, she discovered that he had written about the history of disco. 'I was like, 'Well, aren't you Mr. Interesting?'' she said. LoveJack co-founders Julia LeStage (left) and Lisa Le (right) Image Credits:LoveJack Other standout features include the options to either 'Bet On' or 'Hold' a match. Betting is similar to liking a profile, but the key difference is that users must place a bet by entering a five-word opening line. This gives the match something interesting to respond to. Users are limited to a maximum of five matches per day, so they need to be strategic in their choices. This is where LoveJack's 'Hold' feature comes into play, allowing users to bookmark a profile if they're unsure about someone. Additionally, the five-word descriptions can be updated every day, adding a social aspect to the app. LoveJack archives all previous entries, allowing users to scroll through everything they've written. 'You can see in real time, day to day, how they're revealing themselves through their five-word updates…Your story is going to change every day, all day, like your mood and the weather,' LeStage added. In the future, there will also be a premium subscription that will include an 'All In' button, the app's version of a 'Super Like,' but in this case, it'll use all five bets on one person so they can't match with anyone else for the rest of the day. When it comes to unmatching someone, LoveJack says it tries to minimize ghosting by requiring users to write a preset message when they set up their profiles. The goodbye note is automatically sent to anyone they unmatch. Another interesting aspect of LoveJack profiles is that users are encouraged to use fake names to protect their identities. While using pseudonyms on dating platforms is common, it can elicit mixed reactions from users. Some individuals may question the authenticity of potential matches, while others might prefer to keep their personal details private until they become more familiar with the other person. LoveJack states that it implements a selfie verification process to confirm that the person behind the profile is indeed who they claim to be. Other safety features include reporting and blocking capabilities, as well as censorship of banned language and explicit photos, and an emergency feature that enables users to contact the police and safety hotlines. (These features were unavailable during our beta testing but are expected to be included in the official version.) LoveJack is set to launch its iOS app next month. It'll launch in London first, with plans to roll out to U.S. markets next, including Boston, New York, San Francisco, and others. An Android version of the app will launch in India in late summer. Starting today, users can join the waiting list for early access by signing up at
Wall Street Journal
28-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Tinder's New Chief Is Out to Change Its Hookup-App Reputation
Tinder, the app that revolutionized online dating for millennials, is falling flat with Gen Z. Its new leader wants to change that. His plan? Shake off Tinder's reputation as a site to go to mostly for hookups.
