It's Been a Minute The joy of breaking up with dating apps
Mar 2, 2026
Manuela López-Restrepo, NPR All Things Considered producer and writer, shares her offline dating experiments and how apps shaped her romantic life. She talks about the shift in app culture, why people stick with swiping, and the strange social effects of avoiding face-to-face rejection. Expect candid stories about singles nights, zine ads, and trying to reconnect with in-person dating.
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Leaving Apps To Date In Real Life
- Manuela López-Restrepo has been mostly offline from dating apps for about a year and meets a few people per year by choice.
- She forces herself to attend community events, tried a singles night at a Bed-Stuy food co-op, and even placed a personal ad in a zine to meet people organically.
Monetization Can Turn Dating Apps Into Markets For Lemons
- Dating apps may degrade in quality as monetization and paywalls push earnest daters away, leaving more casual or unserious users.
- Greg Wazelski and economist theory compare this to a 'market for lemons' where information problems and monetization (like Hinge's Rose Jail) drive out good matches.
Dating App Success Undermines Their Business Model
- Dating apps face structural retention problems because their success (matches) reduces users, conflicting with profit motives.
- Match Group consolidation and paywalled features like limited roses worsen user trust and perceived value of the market.