It’s no secret that dating in 2025 is a nightmare. Organic meet-cutes feel like a thing of the past, and for many, doomscrolling through dating profiles on “The Apps” feels like the only pathway to potential connection.
Dating apps may put endless options at our fingertips. But, they also remind us why “stranger danger” was a universal lesson in the first place. From the chronic oversharers to those who forget there’s a real human on the other side of the phone, these 21 text exchanges capture the unique treachery of finding love in the digital age:
1.
To start off, this message from the CEO of Getting Ahead of Themselves:
2.
And this one, straight from the desk of the CEO of Oversharing:
3.
Then this person who has never heard of a white lie, but is great at giving words of affirmation:
4.
This person, who believes plans are automatically cancelled if you don’t confirm day-of:
5.
This person who suddenly got really busy between the hours of 6:13 PM and 7:50 PM:
6.
And this person, whom we can safely assume has no ulterior motives:
7.
This person, who somehow found a pickup line that has never been used in the history of the world (for obvious reasons):
8.
This person who hasn’t learned from their mistakes quite yet:
9.
And this person, who had a very interesting interpretation of a “let’s just be friends” text:
10.
This person who was single at 7:00 PM, but completely off the market by 9:30 PM:
11.
This person who made the mistake of telling their date they like cars:
12.
And this person, who is still figuring out how memory works:
13.
This message that screams “tell me you’ve been hurt before without telling me”:
14.
This person who just yearns to be taken seriously:
15.
And this person, who definitely is not a catfish:
16.
This person, who has very specific ideas about the proper way to get to know someone:
17.
This person, who is 100% not over their ex:
18.
And this person, who blamed their date for something that was really the economy’s fault:
19.
This person, who thinks calling someone else a child will magically make them taller:
20.
This person, who missed the ‘no means no’ memo:
21.
And finally, all jokes aside — perhaps the worst part of modern dating is learning the connection you felt with your date wasn’t mutual:
So yeah, it’s brutal out there. But the upside? Every disaster text just means more material for the group chat, which is almost as important as not dying alone.