How Online Dating is Killing Commitment
Spoiler alert: online dating sucks for me, and I can’t be the only one
The attention economy maintains its stronghold on our brains by stealing our focus, getting us hooked on the promise of yet another dopamine rush. Companies are perfecting addictive products, exploiting our biological vulnerabilities for profit. Instagram’s ecosystem creates eating disorders in teenagers and keeps them returning, locking them into a dysfunctional relationship.
That’s all old news — but what about those other corners of the internet?
Online dating is evil. Unlike other writers on the matter, I speak from deep personal experience. My first date with someone I met on a dating website was an ill-fated Coney Island jaunt in 2001 with a man named Dan I met on Nerve.com.
Fast-forward to 2019: after getting home from drinks with Mark in the East Village, I received a text from him later that night.
“You know how I’ve got a friend from Montana crashing on my couch?” he asked. “It’s Dan.”
Yes, that Dan.
That’s right: I have dated the internet.
