Do Dating Apps Really Work?

Are they just a colossal waste of time, or an underrated way of meeting great new people?

• Dating apps have the reputation of being frustrating beyond belief, and yet millions are using them, swiping for fun, companionship, bad pick up lines and love - with mixed results.
• Different apps, so the mythical consensus goes, are for different kinds of hook ups and people, with some more geared towards casual sex, others specialised on common interests or the same locale.
• New apps coming onto the market each promise to offer a unique, easy way of connecting with attractive, like minded folk, such as Bumble, which only allows women to start a conversation with a match.
• But do these apps actually deliver and bring people together, or are they the demoralising, superficial, even cruel platforms they are often derided as?
• While studies have detected a higher motivation to commit in couples who have met on apps, they also found that the apps encourage unlikely relationships between people of very different backgrounds.
• Yet, there is evidence that some users, such as ethnic minorities, have a harder time dating online than others, while the question of whether dating apps are even aiming to match people up remains.