Today’s Big Story

Are Dating Apps Good or Bad?

America is sick of swiping, it seems, but we’re also addicted to them

You could say modern dating can be viewed as two distinct eras: before the swipe, and after. When Tinder and other dating apps took off in the early 2010s, they unleashed a way to more easily access potential love interests than ever before. By 2017, about five years after Tinder introduced the swipe, more than a quarter of different-sex couples were meeting on apps and dating websites, according to a study led by the Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld. Suddenly, saying “We met on Hinge” was as normal as saying “We met in college” or “We met through a friend.”

The share of couples meeting on apps has remained pretty consistent in the years since his 2017 study, Rosenfeld told The Atlantic. But these days, the mood around dating apps has soured. As the apps seek to woo a new generation of daters, TikTok abounds with complaints about how hard it is to find a date on Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Grindr, and all the rest. The novelty of swiping has worn off, and there hasn’t been a major innovation beyond it.

Of course, there are plenty who say that the apps work—if you put in the time. But time might not be the issue, since dating apps have been likened to gambling, the way they encourage addictive behavior. In fact, one user admitted to spending five hours a day on the match apps, which has led to several being sued for their highly addictive nature. Or perhaps the apps just aren’t as good as they used to be. This phenomenon was described by the writer Cory Doctorow in a blog post and is sometimes called “platform decay”: Tech platforms like Amazon, Reddit and X have declined in quality as they’ve expanded. According to the New York Times, what’s worsening “isn’t just the technological experience of online dating but also our ability to form meaningful, lasting connections offline.”

Ask around and all the daters you know will likely echo sentiments of dating becoming a chore and matches exhibiting more rude, dismissive, and even abusive behavior than ever. Social media is flooded with stories of dating app matches treating potential partners as prizes, and of ghosting, being love bombed, breadcrumbed, getting stood up, left on read, even a date bringing two matches to a date at once without their consent. (Be careful out there, kids!) Mashable says that we’ve entered an era of selfish dating. It feels like everyone opening the apps is doing so with an “every man for himself attitude.”

Which could explain why Gen Z is forgoing much of the app world and taking things into their hands. They’re looking to meet people IRL, but not exactly doing things the old fashioned way either. In fact, they’re treating their dating life more like a business pitch. Some are making “rizz-ness cards” to handout to people they find attractive. Others are creating personal dating websites, which advertise a single person to suitors the way someone might make their own website to get hired for a job. Still others are offering up “date me” email addresses, encouraging suitors on dating apps to get creative by making first date pitches on PowerPoint. If it’s convincing, perhaps we can circle back at the end of the week and make a plan … per my last email.

A Jury Is Picked to Judge a President

But the selection process had been complicated because of the polarizing and high-profile defendant

On Thursday afternoon, a jury of 12 people was selected to determine the fate of an indicted former president for the first time in American history—a moment that could shape the nation’s political and legal landscapes for generations to come. The dozen New Yorkers will sit in judgment of Donald Trump, who has been accused of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. If the jurors convict him, he could face up to four years in prison, even as he campaigns to reclaim the White House as the presumptive Republican nominee.

Of course, the jury selection process had been complicated. Who, at this point, doesn’t have some opinion on the former president? One juror raised concerns that her identity had been discovered, especially after she had been described in the media. She was later excused and judge Juan Merchan then ruled that some identifying characteristics—such as a juror’s place of employment—could not be made public.

Meanwhile, Trump has been present throughout, sitting largely quietly in court but also his Truth Social media account has been posting up a storm, leading to multiple accusations by prosecutors that he has violated a gag order and should be held in contempt of court. The judge said they would discuss the issue further next Tuesday, when he has scheduled a hearing on the request to hold Trump in contempt.

All or Nothing? The Brand’s New Ear Buds Are Getting a Lot of Buzz.

Drawing inspiration from vintage portable hi-fi, they help Nothing maintain its status as an audio innovator

Earbuds are a very personal form of technology because there are a million factors to consider and where one might be crucial to one buyer, it might not matter at all to another. But with its latest earbuds, Nothing has landed on something special, and it’s got boh tech guys and audio nerds buzzing with excitment.

While Nothing is not really an audio company, the brand kicked off with Ear (1), and earbuds have been the bulk of the 3 million products it’s sold thus far. The brand’s earbuds have gotten a lot of praise in the past few years for their sound quality, pricing, and feature set. Obviously, the sound is paramount with a pair of headphones and that seems to be a big win for Nothing's new earbuds. Parker Hall of WIRED had very kind words about the sound quality. And Becky Scarrott of TechRadar mentioned that the active noise canceling was better at drowning out loud noise than the previous generations—and nearly all other earbuds, second only to Sony’s class-leading WF-C700N.

Battery is clearly another important factor when it comes to wireless earbuds. Nobody wants to be stuck on an airplane without enough juice to marathon a couple of podcasts, right? While one shouldn't reasonably expect 10-hour battery life from $100 earbuds, it doesn't sound like the Ear (a) is a slouch in this regard. AndroidCentral's Tshaka Armstrong performed battery testing with every bell and whistle turned on and got around five hours of playback.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Under the Bridge’ + an Interpol Cocktail

Fresh off of her Oscar Best Actress run, Lily Gladstone is starring in a Hulu series alongside Riley Keough as a cop-writer duo working on a case of a missing teenager in 1997. Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s book of the same name, Keough is actually playing Godfrey as she writes the novel, Under the Bridge.

Retelling the fictionalized version of a true crime, the show covers the chilling real-life 1997 murder of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old high school student who died after a seemingly normal altercation with her peers at a party. The subsequent trial and moral panic gripped British Columbia for years to come. The series just debuted a two-episode premiere and will drop episodes weekly from here. So far, critics have liked the show and it boasts a 82% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But it can be hard to watch at times, so a drink might be necessary.

It’s Almost Too Good to Be True

MOOD offers you legal cannabis for every mood and they’re giving you 20% off

By now, you’ve probably heard of MOOD, but just in case, we’ll give you a quick refresher: The brand has found an ingenious way to deliver high-quality artisanal (and most importantly, legal) THC products directly to your door, nationwide. They offer a wide variety—everything from flowers and pre-rolls, to edibles, vapes, concentrates and CBD. What’s more, everything has been grown by small American family-owned farms. The company now has 500,000+ active customers and more than 25,000+ five-star reviews and is so confident that you’ll be satisfied that they offer a 100-day money-back guarantee.

But the really cool part is how the online shop is organized: they let you shop by mood. For example, do you want to be creative or focused? How about euphoric or relaxed? This way you get exactly the kind of product you need. In fact, MOOD is so confident in their product that they’re giving you 20% off your first order to try it out. What have you got to lose?

Look up.