Dating apps are in trouble. Here are the connections people are searching for.

Simone Del Rosario: We won’t say they’re on death’s doorstep, but these days, dating apps are critically ill. 

Bumble’s the latest to lose its wings, its share price dropped 29% after it slashed its revenue outlook for the rest of the year. The stock is down 65% in the past year, while Match Group, which owns Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, etc., is down about 24%.

Are daters just sick of swiping?

In one survey, Gen Zers much preferred meeting someone IRL than online. But is that reality? And how can companies adjust to keep growing customers. 

I’m joined by Liesel Sharabi, associate professor and Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at Arizona State University. 

Liesel, this isn’t the death of dating apps, right?

Liesel Sharabi: I don’t think it is, but I do think that there is a lot of growing frustration in this space, but at the same time, we still have people using them, right? So I think this is really an opportunity to reflect and ask ourselves what’s working well and also what can we do to make this a better experience for people going forward.

Simone Del Rosario: Is the growth and the surge that these dating companies have seen. Could this really be tied back to a post pandemic life in the immediate after effect, like, you 2021 being a big boost for them probably, and a need to adjust to what the new reality is now where people are out living their life, we’re no longer, you know, under lock and key.

Liesel Sharabi: Sure, I mean, during the pandemic, people spent a lot of time at home. We had a lot of people using dating apps, trying dating apps for the first time. But I think when people started to get back out there and things started to open up, there was really this urge to connect face to face. And so I think that some of this is definitely coming off of a period of time where people were feeling very isolated. And so now I think they’re hungry for a face to face interaction in a lot of ways.

Simone Del Rosario: So what are the newer or well, maybe older ways that the dating pool is hoping to meet today?

Liesel Sharabi: Yeah, so I think it’s really interesting, especially when you look at Gen Z because they are now, you know, younger than a lot of online dating platforms. They’ve really grown up in this environment. And I think for them, they’re starting to ask themselves, okay, what else is out there? So beyond dating apps, how else can I go about meeting people? And so you hear from a lot of them that they’re really excited to connect in person.

And they’re looking for other opportunities. And I think in some ways that just has to do with the fact that the apps have been around for a really long time. And, you know, they are not the only way to meet people. And I think there’s some exploration happening there as well.

Simone Del Rosario: So how can these companies behind these apps, behind online dating, transform in an age where people are hungry for in -person dating, for in -person meeting?

Liesel Sharabi: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it’s a great question. And there really hasn’t been, in my view, a lot of big innovation in the dating app space and like the past decade. And so I think for some people they’ve been on the apps for a while. It’s starting to get a little bit stale. And so they’re looking for something different. And I think as we look to the future and AI and how that might be integrated into the online dating experience.

There’s a lot of room to change and to make improvements to maybe make the experience more beneficial and more exciting for people. But I think the way that it is currently, know, people have a lot of options. They’re spending a lot of time swiping. It’s not necessarily leading to the outcomes that they want. And so I think that’s where some of this fatigue and this burnout is coming from.

Simone Del Rosario: I want to talk a little bit more about this because I was thinking about this. Online dating used to be a website first off, not an app where you’re constantly swiping and looking through people in your area, but a website that people would go to and pay for when they were really serious about finding someone, when they weren’t meeting the people they wanted to meet in real life and they were really hungry and searching for that connection. You just mentioned this, that the swiping culture doesn’t bring that same mentality to the table. Is that an area of improvement? People are going to these services, not finding the results they want and kind of giving them up.

Liesel Sharabi: Yeah, absolutely. And some of it is about people’s goals too. Like not everyone who’s on a dating app is actually looking for relationships. Some people aren’t even necessarily looking for an in -person date. They just want to match and message and have fun. And so I think if you are somebody who’s serious, if you’re getting matched with those sorts of people, that can also be a pretty frustrating experience because, you know, if your goals aren’t compatible, then it’s not really going to be able to go anywhere. And so I think that also helping people match with partners that are more aligned with what they’re looking for, making sure that they’re on the same page is really important. And I think for a lot of people, it’s hard. It’s hard to know what somebody’s motivations are and why they signed up in the first place.

Simone Del Rosario: And is that an area where AI can help these companies improve their product to try to sort through the pool a little bit better for people?

Liesel Sharabi: Yeah, I mean, I think a big part of the fatigue that people are experiencing is that, you know, they’re overwhelmed with choice. There are a lot of options, but trying to find quality options and the people that they’re looking for can be really tough. And so I think that there’s room to improve the matchmaking process. And that’s a place where AI could end up being really valuable going forward.

Simone Del Rosario: I’m wondering if dating companies, online dating companies need to branch into the in -person relationship functions. I’m not even gonna say that speed dating is gonna make a comeback, but do they need to have a level beyond the online?

Liesel Sharabi: Yeah, I mean, there are startups that are also doing this currently, like trying to find a way to help people bypass some of the back and forth messaging that they’re spending a lot of time on and getting them out there, just meeting people face to face. You know, I think that’s really important. And I think especially with AI, you know, people are using it to help them create profiles, to write messages, they’re relying on chat GPT already. I anticipate that’s going to be even more of a thing going forward.

It does make me wonder, that going to compel people to then meet face to face because then you know who you’re actually interacting with. So it’ll be really interesting to see how it plays out.

Simone Del Rosario: Liesel Sharabi, Associate Professor and Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at Arizona State University. Thank you so much for your thoughts today on this. We’ll be looking forward to seeing what this innovation that is so desperately needed in this space turns out to be.

Liesel Sharabi: Thanks for having me.