However, I started to quickly realise that no one really liked their experiences with dating apps
They first started becoming popular around the mid 2010s, really hitting a stride in 2016 and this is when I had just moved to NYC at 26 year old. Prior to moving to the city, whenever I saw someone I was interested in, I would just approach them and take my shot. Part of the beauty of this method was that it was so organic and you had so much real emotion towards the first encounter. You also went into knowing there is a chance you can get rejected, which you needed to be ok with and only ever built character.
I think my generation was the last that had a taste of what dating was like before dating apps, but also were the first generation that dating apps were marketed to
But when I moved into Manhattan, the dating app stigma that they were only used by people who didn’t have the confidence to meet IRL was shattered as I realised people were just so busy and technology had become such a big part of our lives that it was kind of a natural migration. So, like everyone else, I joined the crowd. Every time I would talk to a friend or go on a date that person would just complain about them, so I started to get really curious and wanted to figure out why. The obvious answer to me was that it was because the whole encounter wasn’t organic, but I wanted to hear what others had to say. I started getting women’s feedback on their pain points and I started to think of how I can come up with a way that allows people to use dating apps but make the experience more organic.
