You dont have to scroll too far on TikTok to discover how grim the current online dating scene is.
Sure, most people would probably prefer anIRL meet-cute(who wouldnt?
I thought I was going to pass out.
Emily Eldridge/Adobe Stock
We went to get a coffee.
He kept asking weird questions and then decided it would be nice to go for a walk.
I think we walked for three hours in the blazing sun.
I thought I was going to pass out.
Eventually, we got back to where we started.
I was dripping in sweat and had a headache.
He just gave me bad vibes and kept getting handsy in the restaurant.
I was so uncomfortable.
Then he said he couldnt pay, so I got stuck with a $90 bill.
A year ago, I met my current partner, Chris, on Tinder.
I cant believe how lucky I got.
Were closer than ever and Im still absolutely smitten.
Leteisha, 31, Brisbane, Australia
He didnt believe in sunscreen.
It was summer 2019.
In September 2021, I reactivated my Hinge account just to find a concert date.
I got more than I bargained for.
That date is now my fiance!
Erin, 29, Columbus, Ohio
He dropped the F-bomb every other word.
In 2016, I was on a date when I ran into a previous Tinder date of mine.
He was pissed that I was out with someone else and let me know afterward.
Another guy only talked about himself for over an hour and basically never came up for air.
I met him right before I wrote it all off.
We connected pretty instantly and got married almost five years to the day we first met.
We welcomed our son a little over a year later and are trying for number two now.
We lament all the time how different and horrible our lives would be if we never matched!
Ellen, 31, Portland, Maine
I woke up to an email asking for $8,000.
I started talking to a man in January 2022 on OurTime.com.
He told me I was beautiful and he loved my smile.
He lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, a town just 80 miles away from me.
A week into connecting, we spent four to five hours daily talking.
He brought up marriage the fourth week in…we still had not met.
Then one morning, I woke up to an email asking for $8,000!
I told him no.
He tried to make me feel guilty for not helping him.
We went back and forth for a few more weeks and then I ended it.
I met my husband, Norm, about a year later on another dating site.
I was afraid to tryonline datingagain, but we took it very slow.
I went back to his town to spend Christmas with him and his adult children and grandchildren.
We were married a couple months later.
He finally got the hint.
I was too nice, and he didnt listen until food was being chucked at his head.
Two months later, I met my partner on the same app.
We talked for six-plus hours, and I had to ask for a kiss on the third date.
He was such a Southern gentleman and was so charming and sweet.
I met this guy on Tinder, and we connected over similar work ethics.
He asked if I wanted to go to the lake, and I said that sounded great.
I opted for a cutesy bottle of wine and he grabbed a handle of Jim Beamred flagnumber one.
Then, his card was declined at the check-out.
He told the cashier (did not ask!)
to hit it one more time and had to use a different card.
When we arrived, I said, I didnt know you were bringing your boat!
He responded, impulsively: Yeah, I didnt know either, until today.
It just felt so irresponsible and dangerous.
The chance of having cell service was slim, and I didnt know this guy.
We drove around the lake after I told him my anxieties and he pretty much dismissed them.
The date ended with a rushed, silent dinner at a Mexican restaurant 30 minutes before it closed.
He gave me my wine and we never spoke again.
My current partner and I met on Tinder as well.
We reconnected about two months later.
I took a risk with her and she pursued me, even when I was still healing.
As my walls came down, I fell in love with her.
We just got engaged after two years of dating.
I started losing faith in finding a match because I have a disability.
There were a lot of assumptions made.
I felt like he wasted my time.
I had to go through a lot of awkward and inappropriate questions and sex jokes.
Theres often a misconception that disabled people are incapable of sex.
My partner and I met the first week I joined Match.
We didnt chat for very long on the app before going on a date.
The one thing we both noticed right away was how easily we could talk.
Our first date lasted four hours!
Every date after that was the same.
With other guys, I always felt like I had to explain my disability.
My partner told me that he wanted to get to know me as a person.
We are coming up on our first wedding anniversary.
I really love having someone to live life with.
Melissa, 32, Philadelphia
I got on my soapbox and defended the merit of my profession.
I started chatting with this engineer on Tinder.
He asked for separate checks, and I had to get my muffin in a to-go box.
Then, in the parking lot, he tried to kiss me!
I was so confused.
Unfortunately, I had just been broken up with and was not ready to settle down.
He told me that if I ever figured out what I wanted, I could give him a call.
Were getting married next summer.
