Are dating apps effective? 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello. And welcome to 6 Minute

English. I'm Neil.

Dan: And I'm Dan.

Neil: Now then, Dan. What do you think

of dating apps - you know, apps

on your phone that help

you find a romantic partner?

Dan: I can't say I've ever used them

myself. How about you?

Neil: Neither have I, but I've got friends

who have, very successfully.

Lots of weddings.

Dan: Great!

Neil: Now, research shows that fewer than

5% of people who have used dating apps,

actually go out on a date

with someone they met through them.

We'll find out the reasons for this

shortly, but first, a question.

Even though dating apps are not used

as much as we might

think, they are still big business, but do

you know how big?

Around the world last year

how much was spent on them?

Was it: a) less than half a billion dollars

b) between half a billion and a billion

dollars, or

c) over a billion dollars?

Any ideas, Dan?

Dan: Well, this is purely a guess, but

let's say over a billion dollars.

Neil: Well, we'll have the answer

at the end of the programme.

Elizabeth Tinnemans is a

researcher who studied the use of

a particular dating app. She spoke

on the BBC's You and

Yours radio programme on Radio 4.

Her study confirmed that comparatively

few people who used the app

used it to arrange to meet up

with someone. She talked about

people's motives for using the app.

Motives is a word which means 'reasons' -

so what were those motives?

Elizabeth Tinnnemans: We found from all

the people that we surveyed

that only slightly more than

half of them actually met up with

someone. So it doesn't look like a lot of

people are using it to meet up but

it makes sense because we also

looked at why they were

using a dating app and the most popular

and most common motives were

using it out of curiosity

and using it to pass time

or entertainment. So they're not

actively using these dating

apps to meet people like swiping

with friends is something that

happens fairly often, especially

among millennials.

Neil: Tinnemans said that people use

the app to pass the time and simply

for entertainment.

What other motives did she mention, Dan?

Dan: Well, she said that people used it

out of curiosity. If you do something

out of curiosity you're just interested in

seeing what it is and what it does.

Maybe you've heard about

something and although you don't want

to actually try it, you do want to see

what it's all about.

For example, when I was travelling once,

out of curiosity, I went to see

people bungee jumping, but it was never

something I was going to do myself.

Neil: Was the lack of actual dating

through the dating app a surprise?

Dan: No, she said that because

they looked at the motives, the result

makes sense. When something

makes sense, it's understandable,

it's not surprising.

Neil: There is another view as to why

people are not using dating apps

for actual dating.

This is Zoe Strimpel who is

a dating historian. She argues that

because there is so much choice

and so many opportunities to find

a partner through an app, it can make

the dating process

unpleasant and people get tired of it.

Zoe Strimpel: People are being

horribly disillusioned. I think people have

also started to feel jaded.

People are feeling that they're aware that

these relationships are often very callous

and that's to do with the sort of

incredible sense of choice.

Neil: She says that people feel

disillusioned and jaded.

What does she mean?

Dan: When you are disillusioned it means

that you are unhappy with and

disappointed by something

because it isn't as good as it used to be

or it's not as good as you thought it was

going to be. If you have many experiences

like that you become jaded which means

you become bored and lose

interest in something.

Neil: She also commented that

the dating experience can be callous.

Dan: This means that emotionally

it can be very tough and you have

to be ready to accept

rejection or to reject people yourself and

this is not always done in the kindest way.

Neil: Here's Zoe Strimpel again.

Zoe Strimpel: People are being

horribly disillusioned. I think people

have also started to feel jaded.

People are feeling that they're aware that

these relationships are often very callous

and that's to do with the sort of

incredible sense of choice.

Neil: OK. Time to review today's

vocabulary, but first, let's have

the answer to the quiz question.

I asked how much was spent on

dating apps last year. Was it:

a) less than half a billion dollars

b) between half a billion and a billion

dollars, or c) over a billion dollars?

Dan, you said?

Dan: I said c) over a billion dollars.

Neil: Well, the total was just under

$600m so the correct answer was

b) between half a billion and

a billion dollars. Good guess if you got

that one right! Right, now it's

time to recap today's vocabulary.

Our first word today was motives.

A motive is your reason

for doing something.

Dan: If something makes sense it is not

a surprise and you can understand it.

Neil: The next phrase was out of curiosity.

This is when you do something

for no particular

reason other than you are interested

in seeing it or trying it.

Dan: Then had disillusioned.

This is a feeling you get when

something isn't as good as it

used to be or as good as you expected it

to be and you become disappointed by it.

Neil: And that can lead to your

being jaded, which is a feeling

of dissatisfaction and

boredom with something that

has been going on for a while.

Dan: And finally there was callous -

an adjective which means uncaring

and cold-hearted.

Neil: Well, I hope you aren't disillusioned

with 6 Minute English and

will join us again

next time In the meantime find

bbclearningenglish online and

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app - and before you ask, it's not

a dating app! Bye for now.

Dan: Bye bye!