Logan Urie

I just wanna meet through friends and family.

And I feel like it's really important to separate what is dating in general, what is the psychological experience of putting yourself out there, taking risks and getting rejected, and what is specifically the technology.

And what I see happening is that a lot of people are conflating the two and they are blaming apps or technology for something that has been happening in dating long before there were dating apps.

And so one thing I want people to keep in mind is that,

dating is relatively new in the span of human history.

It is?

Yes.

So it really started dating culture, as we know it, kind of pre-aps in around 1890.

That was one of the first times where people were actually going out and women were working in shops and they were meeting themselves.

Before that, it might be the matchmaker set you up or your father...

wanted you to marry the guy next door so that you could combine the two parcels of land.

So actually the idea of humans on their own choosing a partner is new.

And if it feels hard for you, it really feels hard for everyone because this is something new that in the span of human history, we just haven't been doing for very long.

We're absolutely seeing fewer people willing to put themselves out there.

There's a huge fear of rejection, and we're especially seeing this in Gen Z. They are particularly sensitive to the idea that they could be rejected, and it's causing them to take fewer risks.

And this really scares me, not just in dating, but in all aspects of life, because most things worth having are things that you have to put yourself out there for and risk being told no.

The other thing I want to point out is focus on quality over quantity.

Of course, there can be a tendency to want to use Hinge as a popularity contest.

How many people can like me?

Can I use this as an ego boost?