Half-hearted opening lines, tepid chats, and listless dinner dates. Sound familiar? Has your index finger grown weary from swiping, and do you ghost potential suitors at the slightest inconvenience? If so, you may be experiencing symptoms of a modern condition: dating app fatigue.
Today, especially dating post-pandemic, you’re not the only one experiencing this condition. But, what is dating app fatigue, how do you know if you’re experiencing it, and what can you do about it? We’ve covered all of this below to help to tackle your exhaustion and put the fun back into online dating!
What Is Dating App Fatigue?
If you’ve ever used a dating app to search for love (or something more casual, for that matter), you may well have experienced, in some shape or form, dating app fatigue. It’s a feeling not dissimilar to the lethargy experienced after a large buffet; with so much on offer, you go a bit mad, overindulge, and before you know it you never want to look at a mini pizza and/or dating profile again.
There are many reasons dating app fatigue creeps in, and signs it’s well on the way. Fortunately, however, there’re plenty of ways to tackle this most terrible of maladies. Follow the advice below, and in no time at all, we’ll have you revved up and ready to swan dive back into the dating scene.
4 Signs You’re Experiencing Dating App Fatigue
1. You forget who you’re talking to
When you first made your dating profile and everything was new, every person you chatted to was a big deal. You’d tell your friends about them and send them screenshots of their profiles. You’d put thought into your conversations and you’d get nervous at the prospect of a first date.
After several months, however, you find yourself mixing up the names and details of your matches’ lives… John, James, Jared, Jordan, Anne, Hannah, Annie, Rhianna. When your match list becomes a blur of identical grinning faces, it’s a sign you’re due a time-out.
2. You unmatch for barely any reason
“So… what do you do for a living?” *Unmatch*
People new to dating apps wouldn’t dream of unmatching over so innocuous a question. The truth is, however, that when you’re experiencing online dating fatigue, your tolerance of even minor foibles drops close to zero.
If you find yourself scrolling through your matches like Scrooge perusing his accounts book, jettisoning hopefuls at the slightest sign of an uninteresting message, it’s time to take a breather.
3. You’re not interested in people’s lives
“So after I helped build the school in southeast Asia, I spent a year scaling every volcano in Europe to raise money to replant the Amazon rainforest.”
“You don’t say.”
Everybody is interesting, everybody is original and everybody has a story to tell. This much is true. What’s also true though, is that if you try to listen to everybody’s interesting, original stories one after another, you run the risk of boredom-induced spontaneous combustion.
While you may start with the best intentions — offering an empathetic ear to all and sundry — if you’ve reached the point where you have to fight to prevent your eyes from rolling back in your head every time someone mentions their penchant for Wes Anderson films, it’s time for a little dating app vacation.
4. You’re not really trying on dates
At the start, it was all hurrying around, trying on different outfits, and deciding which beguiling fragrance to douse yourself in. Now you rock up in whatever clothes you were wearing that day and don’t even bother to apologize for the fact the wind has buffeted your hair into an Ewok fuzz.
Feeling relaxed and comfortable on dates is brilliant, but if the fun’s gone out of it and you’re simply going through the motions – guess what – you’ve got the fatigue!
How to Get Rid of Dating App Fatigue
Take a break
Simple, right? Just log out for a few weeks. Let your amped-up love-o-meter drift back down to baseline and spend time focussing on other areas of your life.
Go to the gym, pick up a hobby, hang out with friends – anything that doesn’t involve comparing the cheekbones of a succession of strangers. In due course, you’ll feel the love bug return, along with your enthusiasm.
Try something new
One of the best ways to get over exhaustion when dating online is to try something new. Video dating is so popular right now and if you haven’t gotten involved already, where have you been? There’re plenty of platforms that offer fun and creative virtual dates, a perfect way to mix things up and shake off that dating app fatigue.
Slow it down
If you’ve been spending your days swiping like a lunatic, there’s no wonder you’re feeling the strain of dating app fatigue. Give your poor digit a rest, and reduce the number of profiles you’re viewing daily.
Opt for quality, not quantity, take your time browsing profiles, practice healthy dating habits, and think out the messages you send. Say something original, ask meaningful questions, and establish genuine connections. It’s far more gratifying than blitzing through a hundred profiles in half an hour.
Revamp your profile
You can be anybody you want to be when using a dating app. If you’re feeling exhausted from online dating but still want to continue the search for love, giving your profile a rejig can help breathe new life into the whole affair. Why not reinvent yourself? Who knows – you might attract new types of people you never did before.
Be quirky, be severe, be a goth, whatever – your profile is your playground. If you’re a strait-laced office angel by day but you get all sultry and seductive when the sun goes down – great! Pop it on your profile. Have fun with it.
Swipe on people you wouldn’t usually
Most of us believe we have a type. Perhaps you only swipe right on people with certain hair color, or a specific body type. Enough! Throw all that out of the window and start over.
You don’t have only one specific ‘type’ you can connect with, you’re a human being, not a phone charger. Match with people you wouldn’t usually take a second glance at and take time getting to know them. Who knows, you might be in for the surprise of a lifetime.
Focus on making connections
There’s often a lot of pressure when it comes to online dating. Pressure to have the “perfect” profile. Pressure to get plenty of matches. Pressure to go on lots of first dates. Exhausting, right? A good way to tackle this is to shift your focus away from romantic dating and onto making new connections.
To do this, try joining a social dating community. Platforms like Zoosk Live, for example, offer easy and enjoyable spaces to chat with others and make new connections. The live streaming platform has something for everyone, whether it’s interacting with streamers, chatting with other viewers worldwide, giving gifts, and even streaming yourself!
Tackle It in a Way That Works Best for You
Whatever the reason behind your dating app fatigue, it’s important to tackle the issue in a way that suits you best. Whether it’s taking a break, matching with new types of people, revamping your profile, or something else entirely, follow your approach.
After spending a two-year-long pandemic trying to date over Zoom, it’s hardly surprising that dating app fatigue is a bit more common now. But, following these easy steps can help to ensure that you’re back on the dating scene and making genuine connections again in no time!
