Have dating apps met their match? The new way Melbourne singles are meeting

As more people fall out of love with dating apps, real-life dating events are taking off across the city as lonely hearts seek more meaningful ways to make connections.

Perpetual singledom can certainly grow tiresome at the best of times, but not as much as using dating apps to find a significant other — I should know.

As someone who rarely carved out time to date “in the wild”, I, like millions of others globally, was lured to the many, many apps by its modern convenience.

But, in a surprise to no one, it turned out the online dating pool was both shallow in its offerings, and the way in which a person was judged so harshly from a collection of photos.

I was starting to crave something different. I despised the thought of investing time swiping, texting, only to meet up and figure out minutes later that we didn’t gel.

And it would seem I’m not an anomaly as thousands of other lonely-hearted Victorians put down their devices and take part in singles dating events across Melbourne each week.

Dare I say, the long-running love affair with dating apps appears to be fizzling out for good and instead has been replaced by a desire for organic “meet-cutes”.

Declan Magri, Juan Ignacio Cortez Antonuccio, Sam Torcaso, Jordan Rinaldi and Jay Teej turn out for a singles event at Yarra Botanica. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Dozens of the lusty shindigs, hosted by Thursday Dating at different venues across Melbourne, have sold out weeks in advance as more hopefuls seek in-person connection.

Organiser Brenton Bright told the Herald Sun last week’s event at Southbank hotspot Yarra Botanica proved one of its most successful after selling a whopping 500 tickets.

“I went to one of the Thursday Dating events in the UK and the US and thought Melbourne definitely needs this, everybody is well sick of the apps,” Mr Bright told the Herald Sun.

“We’ve been putting on these for about four months in Melbourne, we’ve grown from about 80 people at our very first event to over 500 singles coming tonight.

“There was definitely some sceptical people who were thinking about what a singles night really was, whether it was speed dating and things like that but you come here, and it’s just a bar that everyone’s single at. The vibe is really good. You see all of those little conversations happening, people getting together and making connections.”

Stephanie Porteous is embracing the singles events scene. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Mr Bright said the events quickly became popular after singles caught wind of the get-togethers through social media.

“(The response) was quick after our first events. A lot of people saw footage from those events after we had a couple of clips go viral on Tiktok and Instagram, which really helped. Now our tickets sell out for every event that we hold.”

While there under the guise of a professional assignment, this busy journalist was treated to a scenes which might unnerve many: People unafraid to strike up conversation with strangers.

Mebal Kadian and Nioka Kirby among a packed crowd at the popular Thursday Dating event. Picture: Wayne Taylor

It was refreshing, and more so, fun! The people were beautiful, the crowds lively and the energy buzzing with both nervousness and excitement at the chance of meeting “the one”.

You didn’t feel disposable and there were no hard feelings if it didn’t feel “right”.

Kirsty Dunn, Tinder’s Director of Communications in Australia, said that while reseached showed that the majority of relationships started online, there had been a notable rise in demand for the singles nights out in recent months.

Event organiser Brenton Bright. Picture: Wayne Taylor

“It’s clear that loneliness is an enormous issue across generations, but particularly for young adults today, who missed out on opportunities to connect in real life in the midst of Covid,” Ms Dunn said.

“In our post-pandemic world, everyone is seeking more authentic, meaningful connections, and the younger generation of singles who came of age in virtual spaces now feel a nostalgic affinity for the IRL ‘meet-cute’.”

“The rise of singles dating events, are not necessarily a replacement for dating apps. Tinder still plays a huge role in how we date today – instead these types of events are seen as complementary to the entire dating experience.”

There you have it. If this tired 30-something can muster the energy to tear herself away from her puppy and couch on a weeknight in the hope of finding romance, you sure as hell can, too.