After her divorce, a 40-year-old single mother in Delhi decided to download a dating application. Just a few days later, she received a message inviting her for coffee from a 22-year-old man. Upon opening his photo, she was shocked to realize it was her colleague's son.
The young man messaged, "Hey, you seem interesting. Want to grab coffee?". She awkwardly replied, "I think I've had dinner with your parents". This experience left her flustered, admitting that the online dating world was not as vast as she had imagined.
Similarly, a young woman in Mumbai encountered a man four times within a few months. Initially, they "met" on Tinder, then "swiped" right on each other on Bumble. The third time, they ran into each other at a birthday party in Bandra, and for the fourth encounter, they were seated at the same table at a singles event. "It was as if the universe was conducting an experiment to see how many times we could bump into each other", she recounted.
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Anh minh hoa: The Hindu
India is currently a booming market for Tinder and Bumble, especially among Gen Z. However, behind the seemingly endless "sea" of users lies a shrinking market, ironically due to the algorithms themselves.
According to Bumble's research, single individuals often seek partners with similar educational backgrounds, professions, and lifestyles. To optimize this search, algorithms automatically narrow down these criteria. Consequently, in major cities like Mumbai or Bengaluru, a fixed user base consisting of lawyers, consultants, and creative directors is constantly "recycled" by the algorithms, turning the applications into a party with an unchanging guest list.
This repetitive cycle leaves many feeling fatigued. Data from Hindustan Times in early 2026 revealed that 79% of Gen Z are experiencing "dating-app burnout".
"You see the exact same faces everywhere. It's like scrolling through LinkedIn for jobs, but with added flirting", complained a 28-year-old man in Bengaluru.
This phenomenon explains why in-person networking events are gradually regaining popularity. Clinical psychologist Doctor Jaya Sukul notes that dating applications completely eliminate non-verbal cues such as tone of voice, demeanor, and body language – essential prerequisites for gauging compatibility. Meeting people in "real life" helps single individuals quickly assess the sincerity of others, significantly reducing the risk of anxiety and emotional exhaustion.
Recognizing this sentiment, premium platforms and communities organizing offline events are starting to flourish. Despite this, stepping away from the virtual world sometimes does not spare them from awkward situations.
A female consultant in Jaipur recently attended an in-person social event, only to run into a man she had briefly dated years ago before he inexplicably cut off contact. "He approached me and said, 'You never replied to my last message'. I took a sip of wine and replied, 'That's right. No reply is a reply'", she recalled.
Bao Nhien (According to Hindu)
