Modern love

Time goes by and things change. Yet of course basic human feelings are still the same as they were 500 BC. But the social structure in which these feelings unfold as well as the technological means by which they are exchanged have definitely changed drastically.

In a world where the vast majority of the rich people already have a smartphone in their pockets, several novel forms of social interaction emerge. Mobile broad band internet connection that enables people to instantly access thousands of high definition photos, and built-in precise geolocation systems are allowing the exponential growth of virtual dating.

Advantages are pretty large. To start with, you're not tied up to your inner social circle in order to find someone you wanna date or something else. This is very convenient, because at a certain age, most of the people around become committed, meaning that choices within a particular social group are very limited. Expanding the target socially can be great for those that either didn't follow society's common life tracks in terms of romantic relationships, but also the ones that have, and for some of several reasons, have left that position later in life. This virtual social field has the potential to give people many additional opportunities to avoid loneliness.  

Furthermore, meeting this is way is also more convenient in terms of time commitment. For those who are shy, there's also the advantage to be able to talk for a while with a person before meeting her, which can help avoiding social anxiety. Since there's no full visibility of the person you're interacting with, it's possible to do it simultaneously with multiple people, thus increasing the chance to find someone that's worth it, whatever this may mean to you.

But not everything is so great in the online dating world. Same information asymmetry about what each person is doing, causes engagement and commitment levels to be really low. What this means is that even if conversation is fun, and one thinks the other person is an interesting candidate, it's common to see them treating each other with much less respect and consideration, compared to someone that's right in front of them.

Probably there's a physiological component to that behavior. Looking someone in the eye when you talk to her definitely gives you a whole different level of understanding of what the person is talking about, but maybe more important, what she's not.

In any case, this is an aspect that really undermines how successful these relationships can ever be. If people will always consider each other so disposable, this makes them more convenient to interact with, since regular social etiquette doesn't seem to apply, and they are suitable for last minute date cancellations or just not returning messages whenever the smallest distraction comes up. But it also means these relationships will always worth very little, and the communication means be considered as a lemon market.

I'm positive about the fact one can define his own conduct to a certain extent,, regardless of his environment. I'mMeaning it's possible to be a decent polite person in the virtual world where there currently no incentives to do so. Thing is, if incentives aren't there, it means most people won't do it. The result is that the likelihood you can find someone that will respect you enough for a relationship to be started in these apps is indeed very low.

So their reputation as being platforms for enabling casual sex encounters is actually a natural outcome of how little incentives people have to behave well and engage in meaningful conversations and relationships based in mutual respect. So for the satisfaction of sexual needs of physically suited people, the apps do work quite well. But if the idea is to turn these virtual meeting points into opportunities to find compatible life companions, or even people you'd like to be around for longer than a week, developers will need to put more thought into interaction quality, rather than the current focus in quantity.