That's where we're at. Everyone who said they'd delete them is still on them. Everyone who met someone "organically" met them at an event they found through an app or a group chat or an algorithm that suggested the bar.

The infrastructure replaced the behavior. You can hate it and still use it because there's nothing to go back to. The third places are gone. The coffee shops have headphones. The bars have everyone staring at the same screen they'd be staring at at home. Apps didn't kill serendipity — they just moved into the vacuum after serendipity died of other causes.The real question isn't "apps vs. no apps." It's which version of mediated connection you can tolerate. Hinge is the one that pretends it wants you to delete it. Tinder is the one that knows you won't. Bumble is the one that thought giving women the first-move burden was feminism. The League is the one for people who think credentials transfer to chemistry. And then there's the 30% of people who've quietly given up on all of it and are either in something, out of everything, or just too tired to keep performing availability for strangers who might not show up.Friday night. The apps are open.

The apps are always open. Where are we at is where we've been for a decade now — swiping through faces while the faces swipe back, hoping the algorithm notices something we missed about ourselves.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5834742&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310901#49669865)