Dating apps encourage our worst instincts. Here’s how to be more ethical | Christine Emba

**🔥 Dating Apps Are a Mess (and Kinda Messing *Us* Up Too) 💔📱** Back in the day, people met through friends, family, work, or school 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🎓. Now? It’s swipe-swipe culture. Tinder. Bumble. Hinge. You name it. Sure, dating apps have helped — especially for people in marginalized communities 🏳️‍🌈🤝. But they’ve also brought along some serious issues. 👻 Ghosting? Normalized. 📸 Unwanted photos? Unfortunately, common. 🚨 Harassment? Way too frequent. 🤖 People often act worse when they feel there are no real consequences. Some stats that say it all: - 56% of women have received inappropriate images 📲 - 40% were contacted repeatedly after cutting someone off 🚫 - 37% were insulted, 11% even felt physically threatened 😟 - 64% of men felt insecure due to low responses 📉 This isn’t just awkward — it’s exhausting 🧠💤. Apps turn dating into a *game*. Swipe left, swipe right — again and again — while getting the message that someone “better” might be a tap away 😮‍💨. Why build something real when you can just start over? And let’s be real: If your pics aren’t 🔥 or you’re not 6 feet tall, you might never even get seen 🙃. It’s shallow. It’s discouraging. And for many, it’s just... draining. So what can we do? 💡 Treat people like people — not profiles. 🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Respect boundaries. Look for real connection. 👀 And maybe... just maybe... start a conversation in person. Dating doesn’t have to feel like a simulation. Let’s make it human again ❤️‍🩹. About Christine Emba: Christine Emba is an opinion columnist and editor at The Washington Post, where she focuses on ideas, society, and culture. She is also a contributing editor at Comment Magazine and an editor at large at Wisdom of Crowds, which includes a podcast and newsletter. Before this, Emba was the Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at The New Criterion and a deputy editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, focusing on technology and innovation. Her book, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, is about the failures and potential of the sexual revolution in a post-#MeToo world. Emba was named one of the World’s Top 50 Thinkers by Prospect Magazine in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices