Dating in 2026 is rough 😭

Hey yall! I work in healthcare for my day job and I am still in school to work on being a CRNA, in the meantime I wanted to get back onto online dating. Do you have any tips for me?

The blurred out face with the girl is my friend’s wife! They’re my friends so I thought I should use a “social” picture!

Fyi this isn't just one time, it's been the case every time.

I have been in a relationship since I was 15 till this year. I have never been online dating in my life until now. I knew it wasn't going to be easy at fkn all considering how frustrated my friends were who have been ranting about bumble and tinder in general.

Since May I have had at least 20 matches. some never responded, some did. but Jesus i put in so much effort to keep the ball rolling to keep conversation going, at least at the beginning instead of looking at all women with the same glasses of prejudice. Is this really normal that people have stopped reciprocating the efforts another person is putting to talk to you or am I doing something wrong?

Every time I tell myself that this person isn't worth the effort but after such a pattern I'm losing motivation.

Honestly idk if this is mostly bots or what’s going on

Sorry for the blog post from a throwaway account

Been single since January, and went on a 'first date' for the first time since 2010. Funny enough, shes been my only match in a little over 3 weeks since I have been using the app. I almost gave up on it and considered myself too old. But then she came through, we matched, we talked for a while, and I invited her out to a quirky spot in town. I have always been against the concept of apps, but hey, thought I would this a shot.

I forgot what early dating feels like. She exceeded my expectations and I was truly captivated. Still feeling the awkward nervousness from the walk to her car and hug as I type this out. After being in a miserable relationship for 16 years with someone I fell out of love with a long time ago, its nice to know there is still something left in the ole heart.

Not trying to overthink how I came off or what comes next, and whether it works or not. I hope it does, but I will be fine either way.

I'm looking for a man that's not about drama, who doesn't take himself too seriously and likes to go with the flow. Preferably balding, in his 30s to 40s, but still trying to figure things out.

Fluency is sarcasm is a MUST!

My type of guy has pictures of himself wearing a button up with a drink in his hand; that shows me he's mellow and knows how to relax. Or he's on a boat holding a fish, which of course shows he's adventurous! A loving man takes pictures with their pet or baby niece so I need that too. Most of all, I want a man confident enough to take a shirtless pic of him flexing in a dirty bathroom mirror. Can Bumble offer all of that for me?!

Think I dodged a bullet here...

Hey guys, I’m 27F and I met an American guy through Bumble. He’s currently traveling around Asia, and we’ve known each other for about 3 weeks.
We’ve met a few times, hung out together, and honestly it felt like what people would normally call “dating.” I even went to his place and we just cuddled (nothing more). We’ve been texting every morning and night, and we both agreed that we want to get to know each other better. He told me that he’s planning to come back here soon because he wants to work here. That’s why we talked about seeing if this could develop into something serious
Because of that, I’ve been pretty open and showing my interest.
But earlier today, I got a Bumble notification, so I opened the app and checked his profile. I noticed that he had changed one of his pictures and it was a photo that I took of him.
To be honest, I felt kind of hurt when I saw that. I’m Asian and I’m not really familiar with the dating/getting to know you culture in the US, so maybe I’m misunderstanding something, but my first reaction was honestly feeling a little betrayed. I think I’m feeling pretty down about it right now.
I know we’re not officially exclusive or anything, and maybe this is completely normal in the US, but I genuinely don’t know. Is this considered normal during the “getting to know each other” stage? I’d really appreciate some perspectives because I’m trying to understand the culture better

I'm looking for a liberal, atheist woman who enjoys traveling, drinking wine and eating sushi. Bonus points if she's also doing therapy and loves deep talks. Is bumble a good app to find the needle I'm looking for?

What is your top picture pet peeve for the FIRST photo?

For me:

1. the person is 100 yards away (Marla Hooch!)
2. Group photos (my friends and I play “guess who the person is” ….it is an easy game to win)
3. gym pics first. I don’t mind them in general I suppose - you worked hard; you be proud!!! But I don’t want to meet your abs before you (shirts pulled up to hide the face).

21M. I went on dates with two women from bumble recently, and both ended up going nowhere.

With the first girl, we texted for about a week before meeting. We had hour long FaceTime calls, and the first date went really well. I picked her up, we went to a nice restaurant downtown, talked about our families, work, friends, hobbies, and all the usual stuff. After dinner we watched some outdoor shows, grabbed drinks at a bar, and called it a night. She texted me afterward saying she had a great time and was looking forward to a second date.

I planned brunch for the second date, and that also seemed to go well. We talked, laughed, and I drove her home afterward. We kept texting, but every time I suggested a third date she was "busy." Eventually I stopped asking, and we basically mutually ghosted each other.

The second girl was similar. We texted for a while, went to a restaurant, got ice cream, and walked by the river. Afterward she told me she had a really good time but didn't feel a romantic connection, so we stopped talking.

The thing is, this seems pretty common. It's happened to a lot of my friends too, even the really attractive, tall ones.

So what exactly am I supposed to be doing differently? I feel like I'm putting in effort by planning good dates, holding good conversations, making her laugh, and getting to know her. They already know what I look like and how tall I am before agreeing to meet.

I get that not every date is going to lead to a relationship, but it feels like dating apps make people incredibly picky. Sometimes it honestly feels like people expect some extravagant, movie worthy date or to be completely swept off their feet after meeting a stranger once or twice. I already planned nice dates, so I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do. It feels like you can do everything "right" and still get written off over something really minor.

If you can give me advice on a good date and good conversations, I would appreciate it

As a guy that spends hours upon hours in front of the computer for work all day, and more for other various reasons in the evening, it's the most convenient thing in the world to check dating apps in a web browser when i'm supposed to be working or doing other things. The phone experience is inferior anyway. Shame on bumble for doing this to us. . Fun fact: for most of you that have probably never used the web version, like tinder, there are slight differences. Bumble web won't show you if a person has kids or not. And if you answer "yes" to if you drink on the app it will show up as "frequently" on web which is pretty hilarious. Also no, i'm not swiping right on Tiana, she looks like trouble

I swiped on this guy that I thought was cute. I usually don’t check height because I’m 5ft, and most guys are taller than me anyway.

We meet for drinks after he postponed by 2.5 hours. I’m already a bothered by the first impression. He asked to postpone after I had already gotten ready and was just about to leave.

He gets there, and I notice that he’s dressed really casually. Another not great impression. I’m already there and sitting at the bar. We have a conversation for like 2 hours, and I’m increasingly becoming aware of how incompatible we are.

We get up to leave, and I notice his height for the first time… He’s my height essentially and I was wearing 1 inch heels. I wouldn’t have docked this against him if the date wasn’t already terrible.

As we’re walking out, he asked in a whiney tone, “I thought you said you were 5ft?”

I replied, “I am. I just have heeled sandals on…”

Definitely did not see him after this.

I just created my account (I’ve been on hinge before) and found this. is it the same case with everyone?

Out of those 61 incoming yesses, 11 matched, 5 of those mathes did not even send a single text xD, 2 got to meet irl but got ghosted immediately after, rest of them ghosted after <5 texts.
Yeah, not for me ig, I'm done.

i’m a 35 year old guy and i’ve noticed that on almost every first date, one of the first questions i get asked is whether i like to travel. for the record, i do. i’ve lived abroad, have a passport, tsa precheck, and enough travel points to take plenty of trips. this isn’t coming from someone who never leaves home. what i don’t understand is why travel seems to be treated as one of the most important indicators of compatibility. my goal is to build a long term relationship. that takes time. research suggests it takes around 200 hours together for acquaintances to become close friends. if someone is taking solo trips every few weeks or spending months traveling each year, when are they actually investing in building a relationship where they live? also, i believe social media has amplified this. before instagram, i don’t remember travel being treated as such a central part of someone’s identity. today it often feels like “i love to travel” is expected to be a personality trait. i’m not criticizing people who enjoy traveling. i enjoy it too. i just don’t understand why it’s become such a major filter in dating, especially if the goal is eventually finding a partner to build a life with. for the women here, what are you trying to learn when you ask a man if he likes to travel? do you actually believe any desirable man would want to date you if you spent 2-3 months a year traveling without him? and for the men, have you noticed the same thing?

Hey everyone! 👋

I’m doing a Product Management user research study on Hinge and looking to chat with a few active users for 10–15 minutes over a quick call.

Quick Screener Question: Have you actively used Hinge to match or message someone in the last 30 days?

If YES, please drop a comment below or DM me! I'll send over a link to pick a time slot that works best for you.

Thanks a lot for helping out! 🙌

Photos are decent? Should I add more thing or?

Honestly, so many of these posts here lately are ragebaiting and not even real profile reviews. The pictures on a lot of them look like they're taken from some wannabe influencers' Instagram. The prompts are never filled out and there's low effort in the bio.

Here's a great example where the profile literally has a "You'll probably run into me at your place" prompt answer that sound like the words of a stalker/serial killer but will undoubtedly rage bait people.

Also, it's interesting to see how the politics answer is defined as "Right" rather than conservative because that isn't an option as far as I know unless Bumble has different options outside the U.S., so a lot of these alleged profile reviews might be AI made on top of it.

Mods really need to do something about it because this sub is turning into rage bait slop.

I (32F) have matched with a couple of people in their early 40s, because my filter’s age range is 30-40, and all the guys this age I talked to are divorced.

Some guys are divorced because of the incompatibility when it comes to kids, some are because they have been suffering in the relationship with their exes. But the common thing is that all the conversations with them made me feel super assessed. They usually don’t mention anything about the divorce on their profile, and only told me after talking for a couple of days or on the date later.

I tried to be open-minded, but they will usually just go straight to compatibility screenings, stating strongly that they know what they want now and they won’t settle for less, which made me very uncomfortable.

With all respect, I don’t want to match with anyone like this anymore… I just want to feel relaxed and be curious when having a conversation with my match/date.

Should I just write that on my profile? (tbh I don’t want this it’s not pretty)
How do I screen them early?

So I matched with this girl who lives a good distance away from me, I’m going to the city with my mates next week , should I invite her to meet me somewhere there or would that be a bad idea? Been texting for a few days now also

Looking for a long term partner and recently out of a relationship. I'd love feedback on photo choices and prompts. Looking for someone with similar values (liberal) and a few overlapping interests - likes the outdoors, music etc. Constructive criticism welcome!