I think the super accessible nature of dating apps has made them mostly a way to pass the time while people go about their lives. It's like buying a ticket into the lottery. You don't expect anything out of it, but it's low effort and there's the hope of hitting the jackpot and landing a big fish. In the mean time, you get compliments and flirt with people you would never actually consider meeting, but are entertaining enough to chat with for your own amusement. This might be a really cynical way to look at online dating, but as someone who has been around in it for several years I feel like it's pretty accurate. The large majority of people on there just want to see if they can land a huge catch easily, but not at the expense of lots of effort and time. Those who make an effort either burn out from lack of success or the sheer amount of shit they have to wade through, or get lucky, find someone similar and are off the market quickly. And that isn't counting the many, many, many profiles that are only there to advertise sets of nude photos for girls trying to make quick cash or selling prostitution under the guise of legitimate dating. I feel like this was always going to be the endgame of online dating as it exists now, but while I know this is just human nature at work finding new ways to use existing tools, it is hard not to let my growing misanthropy tinge my view of the online dating scene.
