Name: Is Gen Z done with dating apps? | CNN Creators
Uploaded: 2026-01-31T17:12:07.000Z
Duration: 8 min 36 s
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So 2026 is the year we're all going offline, is it?

Perhaps I will partake in offline light, but what do you guys all think?

I think this is probably a fad that you can't live your life offline.

But, like, in a, In a light way, perhaps, like just a little bit offline.

I think definitely people want to go offline.

I've been speaking to a lot of my friends who especially, especially want to turn off dating apps.

I looked into it and, like, some of the reasons that people are feeling so exhausted by it.

Gen Z is the first digital native generation.

We grew up organizing parties on Facebook, sharing photos on Instagram, and most of us are on TikTok.

But ask about the dating apps and you're sure to get a pretty similar response.

So I just deleted Hinge for, like, the 500th time on my phone because the worst I ever feel about myself is when I'm using that app, which, for whatever reason, doesn't feel like how a dating app should make me feel.

Every time I hear a dating horror story, I think, do you know what?

And I think the fraught way we do dating at the moment has definitely manifested in people's perception of relationship.

A lot of people seeking relationships are pointing the finger at the apps for this experience and as a result, are breaking up with them.

UK digital regulator Ofcom said between May 2023 and 2025, Tinder lost almost a million users, while more than 130,000 departed Hinge in 2024, but

Shantae Joseph wrote an article for British Vogue in October questioning if it was embarrassing to have a boyfriend.

Dating apps have completely shaped our view and perception of how we seek romantic love, because, first of all, it seems like the only option, but

then you're also just constantly confronted with just the most insane people you've ever come across in your life, and

I don't know if dating apps created the problem, but

they definitely kind of amplified it in an effort to Combat dating app fatigue.

Users are turning to consultants like Jenny Deal.

If your profile is just here's me, that's what why you aren't getting matches that you actually get along with.

She's made a job out of helping people find success on the apps, charging $250 an hour and seeing five to seven clients a week.

A lot of people end up working with me because they're feeling the burnout, but

they don't want to give up quite yet on the dating apps because they have a friend who met their partner off Hinge and they're like, I know it can work.

I just don't know why it's not working for me.

I've noticed there's two primary forms, and

it's pretty gendered between men and women, where women feel burnout because they're almost offended at their options.

Men face burnout because no one's matching them back.

And one reason for that could be the mismatch in users.

A poll from SSRS found that 57% of online dating app users are mentioning while 38% of women.

What we do see how, you know, is kind of gaps between young men are more likely to go online looking for casual sex than young women are.

I think what apps do is kind of in this instant gratification world, right?

We, you know, we sort of have this expectation, if you got the money, you can order, you know, anything, any food can be delivered to your doorstep.

And I think there is a way that apps sort of send us into this world that anything can be delivered to us, perfectly wrapped up and all ready for us.

And I think that happens in dating apps as well.

You know, I think it takes the humanity out of who we are.

I am hopeful that a lot of women will start to reorient their personal, intimate lives and they will stop putting romantic relationships at the top of the totem pole so they can still have fulfilling relationships and not feel like they have to sacrifice something.

At the moment, it's not looking good, brav.

If you were to have a message to a young guy watching this show, it's largely touching on, like the dating apps and the impact and the fact men and women aren't getting on as well as they once seem to used to, what message would you have?

You know, go out with your mates, find one of your friends who is good at you know, just having small talk with if you're a bit heterosexual with young women, but

It should have been a dating coach instead, but I guess it talks to.

hopelessness maybe that people feel at the state of the apps or the people they're finding on these apps that they're willing to part with that much money just to maybe find a little quirk that improves their algorithm slightly.

I think it really points to how disappointed people feel.

And I was like talking about this with Jenny and some of the people we spoke to and people take it really personally, like on the apps and we've seen the reasons why we just covered them.

But people look at that and go, I'm not getting any matches because there's something wrong with me, so what can I do to fix it?

Like trying to take it into their own hands.

Even though that's not necessarily the case.

It also goes back to this idea that Gary was talking about, instant gratification, where in today's age, everything you need can be ordered and delivered right away and you get out on your doorstep.

But you want that like dopamine hit of, oh, this person matched me.

Oh, this person messaged me, oh, we have a date plan and it just doesn't work like that all the time.

I spoke to a psychologist also about this and kind of what both of you were saying, she was saying that people who do really well on these apps are people who have secure attachment styles where, where they're not going to be really upset if someone doesn't message them back.

They're not going to have those issues that come from feeling like maybe they're not good enough, et cetera.

And they're okay with not having that constant dopamine hit and instant gratification.

They can put the app aside and not use it.

And it's particularly bad for people who have anxious attachment styles, but

those are often the people who are on the apps and then they get ghosted and it really impacts their self worth and self being.

And the ghosting is a huge problem and the apps are trying to deal with it.

Because it's not in their best interest to have people not enjoying the experience.