Dating Apps Are Using Role-Playing Games to Fix Your Rizz

In September 2023, Adam Raines made a Reddit post revealing what feels like a near-universal problem for singles: His dating app conversations are painfully boring. Attached to the post, titled "Sometimes, texting on dating apps feelings (sic) like hitting your head against a brick wall," is a screenshot of a bone-dry Tinder conversation between him and one of his matches, in which Raines' curiosity is met with short, dead-ended answers. "The vast majority of my online dating interactions have been like that," says Raines, 25, a gay man living in the UK who asked to use a pseudonym to protect his privacy. Many users in the thread echoed his sentiment and offered explanations or theories as to why conversations on dating apps are often unsatisfying. "I see I'm not the only one getting that type of energy lol," one wrote, as another noted, "It sucks, and if people swiped more mindfully this wouldn't happen, but a lot of guys are so beaten down by the dating app experience they feel like they don't have any other choice and want whatever validation they can get."