Are dating apps effective? Listen to 6 Minute English - YouTube
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
on social media and on our own
app - and before you ask, it's not
a dating app! Bye for now.
Dan: Bye bye!
