TEXAS — The dating world has changed quite a bit in the last few years between the pandemic, social media and online dating. According to Pew Research, 30% of Americans say they have used a dating site or app at some point.
Millions of singles have turned to online dating to find a match. Having so many options can feel both exciting and overwhelming. Singles in Austin have mixed feelings about meeting people virtually.
“The dating landscape sucks,” said Syvo Hatton, who has been single for a few years. “I’m not gonna lie. Dating apps… bad idea.”
Despite Austin ranking in the top 10 for best spots to date in the U.S., people on the streets of the Capital City say this tech hub is littered with singles ready to mingle online.
“I don’t feel comfortable being perceived and swiped upon,” said Kenedy Harris, who recently became single. “I think meeting people organically and naturally is the way, for me at least. I think dating apps make me really uncomfortable in a way.”
According to E-Harmony, about 80 million Americans are looking to the internet for love.
Dating coach Sabrina Zohar says it’s not all bad news when it comes to the dating apps. Amassing more than 3 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, Zohar provides dating advice through her platforms and podcast.
“I met my partner on an app, and I think it is a beautiful way to expose you to other people you might not necessarily have in your circle, but I think if we’re not using it with intention, and if we’re not using it with a real understanding of the power that this app has that’s, I think, where we can get into that, ‘Whatever… I’ll just find somebody else, or I’ll ghost, or this doesn’t matter,’ because we see them as avatars and less as people,” Zohar said.
She says dating apps are just another tool to meet a potential match.
There was a pandemic-era boom in popularity with apps like Tinder and Hinge, but despite that trend, some prefer the good old fashioned natural connection.
“I work on Sixth Street anyways, so I meet a lot of people,” Harris said. “I’m a body piercer, so I’ve been meeting them all, all kinds of ways.”
No matter how Texans are finding love, there’s always that one common hesitancy.
“It’s the fear of rejection,” Hatton said. “We all have been rejected, and I think that’s a big key.”
Zohar encourages those seeking a relationship to address their anxieties.
“If I could share anything, work on your emotional regulation, work on coming back home to yourself, work on being O.K. with who you are in your body so that you can make choices from a place of empowerment and not just, ‘do they choose me, but do I choose them?’ and ‘does this work for me?’ is a really beautiful place to be because ‘I want you in my life, but I don’t need you in my life,’” Zohar said.