They don’t like drinking? Deal with it. They don’t support your political party? Deal with it. Don’t spend time on a dating app trying to change someone you haven't even met yet. And definitely don’t joke about it either: “I bet I can get you drinking! ” is just plain rude. It isn’t the dating tips that are at fault here, but rather the dating pool itself that hinders these apps from being effective dating tools- there are simply too many people looking for something different than what they have, thus forcing them to settle for subpar relationships or none at all. A recent study showed that of those dating apps that have upwards of 50 million users, only 1.5 million are actually dating each other- not to mention the majority of these users are men, leaving women to get lost in the mix. Take dating app Happn for example- their key demographic is women aged 18-35 looking for relationships. On average, women will get 14 “likes” per day while men get 4 times as much with 56 likes per day on average. This means that after a month on this dating app alone, a woman would receive approximately 4 matches total to date- hardly enough time or patience left to find someone they could even tolerate let alone love. This concept isn’t exclusive to dating apps either- similar problems came up when dating sites such as eHarmony and Match.com were becoming popular, especially for those dating outside of their race. For example, the dating site BlackPeopleMeet has 17 million members while its white counterpart has 21 million- according to a dating expert, this is because “…white people don’t date black people.” While there could very well be other factors involved in this disparity that we do not know about, it can still be seen that no matter what dating app or dating site you use, you will always end up having to change who you are to fit someone else’s criteria before anything becomes serious- which means it’s time to stop wasting everyone’s time and find someone who likes you for who you are rather than trying to change you. According to dating expert Susan Winter, the way dating apps are set up is by forcing us to look at dating as a “…competitive sport.” High expectations and low returns leave many people feeling bitter about dating, hence leading them to put less effort into their dating profiles or even stop using dating apps all together. While it could be argued that this isn’t the point of dating sites and apps, it doesn’t change how people feel- because dating should always feel like fun, not work! So next time you see someone on your dating app whom you find completely undesirable for whatever reason- whether they are too short/tall, too dark/light, too small/big, married or have 8 cats- don’t waste your time trying to “change” that person for dating purposes. You will end up losing much more than you could possibly gain in the end. Further explanation can be given about dating apps and dating sites; dating trends; what dating should feel like; etc. Ending thoughts should say "So next time you see someone on your dating app whom you find completely undesirable for whatever reason- whether they are too short/tall, too dark/light, too small/big, married or have 8 cats- don't waste your time trying to 'change' that person for dating purposes. You will end losing much more than you could possibly gain in the end." - dating tips - dating apps, dating sites (including why dating apps/sites are awful for dating purposes) - dating trends; what dating should feel like; etc. -"So next time you see someone on your dating app whom you find completely undesirable for whatever reason- whether they are too short/tall, too dark/light, too small/big, married or have 8 cats- don't waste your time trying to 'change' that person for dating purposes. You will end losing much more than you could possibly gain in the end." One dating app in particular has an incredibly skewed gender ratio- many dating apps are known for being either male or female dominated, but dating app Hinge was found to have only seven percent women within its user base. This leaves men with a much smaller dating pool than they should be given the fact that the dating demographic on dating sites/apps is about 50/50 in general. But while dating apps may have started out being aimed at heterosexual people looking for relationships, services like DryBuddy and Lulu exist specifically for gay men looking to meet other gay men. Services like these not only skew the dating world in favor of one sex over another, but also end up leaving straight women without any options whatsoever due to their targeted nature. So while dating apps may have started out being aimed at heterosexual people looking for relationships, they are now clearly skewed towards one sex over another- specifically men. The dating world has taken a turn towards the dark side of dating where there are endless expectations and disappointments- making dating more competitive than it should be between two even-matched individuals. To make dating fun again, it’s time to stop worrying about whether someone has an “attractive” enough profile picture or if their job is prestigious enough because what truly matters in dating is whether you can stand being around that person consistently while also still enjoying each other’s company. We need to start dating smarter by focusing less on trying to fit someone