Thank you for this well-written article on an important topic. While never a fan of dating apps, mostly for the reasons you mentioned, I can easily see how damaging they have become. Humans are complex creatures and so are our interactions. Reducing them to algorithms can and does only really benefit companies running the apps. I'm glad to hear there has been a backlash against dating apps! I believe we would all benefit from remembering what Rilke wrote long ago: “For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other. This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet