For: Me … basicallY

Q: What technology would you be better off without, why?

~Not just for me but, I think, the world could do without this “technological advance”.

As someone who is not seeking any sort of arrangements, not looking for hookups, nor is interested in a situationship but is interested in having a real a$$ relationship with a real a$$ adult, I would have to say we could do life better without dating apps/sites. These companies have ruined humanity and are the reason for the loneliness epidemic currently happening—I’ll explain:

These ‘dating’ companies give people, *cough cough* with an emphasis on men, the false reality that they have a million+1 possibilities out there so “wHy ChOoSe WhAtWaNtS mE?!” / “WhY sETtLE when there’s hundreds of hot singles in my area that want to meet me and they all look like…[their ideal type physically]?!” Ultimately forgetting that if something is free to use, which many of these sites are, YOU’RE THE PRODUCT!

Your delulu (delusional) dreams, the years you’ve wasted swiping left and right, your valuable data given away, and the ads they expose you to is how these companies make their money.

Fast forward to today, 2024 is 29.5 days away and people have wasted their best years on apps that gave them hookups (if you’re hot, fortunate, or desperate enough) and many bad first dates (if you and ‘your match’ even made it past the in-app messaging phase) with people that looked nothing like the “in your area hottie” pictured in your notifications. Instead these people are still very much single, visibly older/not as hot as they once were *sad emoji*. And they’re an interesting mix of still cocky but slightly humbled and jaded with regret and sadness in their eyes. Living an a barely furnished home alone with their dogs, pining for someone who wanted you years ago before you fell down the dating app rabbit hole NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO!

When I hear the rise of incels, the birth rates declining and people marrying later or opting not to marry or date, I fault technology as being the reason. Humans are weak and malleable and these companies know this and prey upon what people desire. All this access to everything in our palms has regressed us as a society and has impaired (limited) people’s brain and their ability to have a meaningful conversation face-to-face, orally and via text.

And it’s not just a 30-something/millennial thing; Gen-X and Gen-Z are no different. I’m sure Boomers are struggling too but I don’t have dating experience with senior citizens. ~My dad is almost a senior citizen hence why not.

I’ve only tried a dating app once; I texted and FaceTime with the oddest character ever from Atlanta and that was short lived and so long ago (2015).

My goal for 2024 is to go outside more and have organic interactions with the hope of meeting someone I’d be interested in dating. And I wish more people will stop giving their time and their personal data to these dating apps and try finding whatever they’re searching for IRL (in real life). Yeah, real life is scary but what’s online is scarier.

Do you agree or disagree? And why?

What technology would the world (or you) be better off without? And why?