Algos deciding what i read.
Algos deciding what i watch
Algos deciding what i buy
what news i see.
What jobs i apply to.
If i get hired.
Who i date.
The dating app paradox
21–30 of 570 posts
Re: The dating app paradox
#22Re: The dating app paradox
#23I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society st…
> All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. (as an American, balking at this): The American government is too irresponsible and corrupt to ever handle something like this -- it would get abused so quickly, and thus, no regular person would trust it. Having a single dating app/profile as a free public service is a good idea in theory , but the pre-requisite of havi…
And yet the government mostly does what we ask of it. USPS gets mail to the most remote locations for the price of a stamp. State and the military both protect our interests overseas (for better or worse). Healthcare.gov works pretty well (after that rocky rollout).
It's far from perfect, but I don't feel like it's any more dysfunctional than any other western democracy.
Re: The dating app paradox
#24I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society st…
Haha this sounds like the plot for a dystopian futuristic government where based on data they automatically select the right mate for you.
But joking aside. Not everything should be solved by the government, dating is supposed to be messy, unpredictable and a bit dangerous.
We are humans not machines.
Re: The dating app paradox
#25I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society st…
> I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public.
Honestly, if the government gets involved, I hope it just kills the whole category with fire and bans them all, so we can stop with this atomized, app-mediated bullshit. Match Group's shareholders will be very sad, and I will be happy to play them a tune on the world's smallest violin.
But capitalism doesn't optimize for good outcomes, it optimizes for the shittiest thing that can be monetized that people will just barely tolerate. It also will use the power of propaganda to drown out and destroy any non-market competitors, so we feel we have to use that shitty thing.
Re: The dating app paradox
#26Yes dating apps have a fundamental contradiction and enshitification is inevitable. But what struck me the most was how amateurish this article was. Citing tiktok users. Overusing phrases. Poor pacing. Its another example of the enshitification of journalism.
I agree -- plus, the author used a smiley as part of a sentence at one point. And this is NPR, no less.
Re: The dating app paradox
#27I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society st…
> All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. (as an American, balking at this): The American government is too irresponsible and corrupt to ever handle something like this -- it would get abused so quickly, and thus, no regular person would trust it. Having a single dating app/profile as a free public service is a good idea in theory , but the pre-requisite of havi…
That’s just marketing by politicians trying to get elected. “Our government sucks, pick me and I’ll fix it” has been every politicians message since Reagan. It isn’t real.
For an organization that size, it functions incredibly well in most respects. Nobody would claim it to be perfect (and you’re probably right that nobody would trust it even if it were, because so many have accepted that marketing) but it could handle simple tasks like a dating app.
It maybe shouldn’t. But I don’t think corruption is or in this case would be a real issue.
Re: The dating app paradox
#28The "enshitification" of dating apps is long overdue, in fact I'd say it's one of the easiest to predict.
"Enshitification" almost follows a formula: take any app that does not have a direct path to revenue, add investor cash, watch the enshitification as the apps founders try to please investors. Dating apps here have an additional issue which is you are guaranteed to have users "fall off", either a user finds someone and drops off or the user get frustrated and drops off, one of these outcomes is basically guaranteed for a dating app.
And this is just my opinion but I feel like unlike other apps, users are more resistant to paying for dating apps because it makes you look like a looser and dating is is inherently viewed as something that should be "free" (at least the meeting aspect)
I guess my question is what did investors really expect?
Re: The dating app paradox
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
> All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. (as an American, balking at this): The American government is too irresponsible and corrupt to ever handle something like this -- it would get abused so quickly, and thus, no regular person would trust it. Having a single dating app/profile as a free public service is a good idea in theory , but the pre-requisite of havi…
And yet the government mostly does what we ask of it. USPS gets mail to the most remote locations for the price of a stamp. State and the military both protect our interests overseas (for better or worse). Healthcare.gov works pretty well (after that rocky rollout). It's far from perfect, but I don't feel like it's any more dysfunctional than any other western democracy.
It’s less dysfunctional than most organizations 1/10th its size.
Re: The dating app paradox
#30I have a somewhat unrealistic dream that someday dating apps will be viewed the same way as roads: Essential infrastructure that needs to be handled by the public. A government developed dating app whose only goal is to help people find healthy relationships. All my american friends balk at this. But as a swede, I dont think it is completely impossible. The completely impossible dream would be that we as a society st…
Government arranged marriages.