I thought moving out would be a dating disaster, but a new report finds my peers still living in the capital have it worse When I left London for a smaller city, my only hesitation was over what it would mean for my love life. By moving from a large dating pool to a small one, was I committing myself to lifelong singledom? The other thirtysomethings in my new home city seem mostly coupled up: either locals who got together in their 20s, or outsiders who have moved with partners to have kids. You don’t have to be swiping for long before you are informed that you’ve exhausted the singles in the ..read more

Those who – like me – have spent years looking for love on a six-inch screen know the pitfalls of these platforms On Valentine’s Day this year, a lawsuit was brought by six people in the US against Match Group, the company behind dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge and Match. The suit blames dating apps for game-like tactics that, they say, contribute to addictive behaviour, making miserable swiping addicts of us all. Match Group denies this, calling the claims “ridiculous”. But anyone who, like me, has spent years on and off the apps knows that there are clear parallels between love algorithms ..read more

When I got back on the apps, I made up my mind to embrace midlife, menopause and online dating. So much for optimism I need an online dating intervention. Or a miracle. It’s 2am and I’m wide awake – weary, wired and spun out. Shanti L Nelson is a writer and photographer ..read more

As more singles swear off ‘the apps’, a new generation is bringing back an old way of meeting in real life Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Find more essential summer reading Lilian no longer knows how many times she’s deleted all the dating apps from her phone. Somehow, she always reinstalls them. While she says she hates “the apps”, as they are now known (begrudgingly or affectionately, depending on your success), going clubbing or hanging around at a pub is “not where you meet people”. Lilian says dating apps have made romance feel like another chore to manage. In place of lock ..read more

Police say romance fraud has ‘soared’ but true extent unknown as many victims do not come forward Police have warned online daters of the risks of fake celebrity profiles after a woman lost about £5,000 to a romance fraudster posing as TV chef James Martin. Nottinghamshire police said the scam is part of a trend where fraudsters pose as celebrities on dating profiles to lure fans ..read more

A study found that 76% of people dating have either ghosted or been ghosted. Why is this considered acceptable? When The Banshees of Inisherin became such a hit last year, I couldn’t help wondering if one of the reasons it was resonating so powerfully was that – despite being set on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland in the 1920s – it was essentially about ghosting. A man stops talking to his friend without explanation, and the emotional fallout is devastating. In the 1920s, ghosting a close friend would indeed have been shocking. Ghosting as a social move was pretty much unheard of i ..read more

You’ve heard of ghosting. Meet its even more shameless cousin – when a love interest who disappeared off the face of the Earth just as suddenly reappears Name: Zombies Age: Earliest mentions date to 2016 ..read more

Remember when dating apps were just for love and sex? Now they’re all about networking Name: Dating app job hunters. Age: A few years old ..read more

After a flurry of communications over a dating platform, Berndt Sellheim was falling in love with a mystery woman – after her profile vanished, he discovered she was Tara Moss “Do you prefer Sartre over sport? Bukowski over beige?” These words, written by my now-wife on her dating profile, are how I fell in love some 16 years ago. We hadn’t yet spoken on the phone, nor met in real life; I hadn’t seen a picture and didn’t know her name ..read more

Has a bad breakup made you lose faith in romance – or even yourself? Are you fed up with scouring the apps? Here, relationship experts explain the healthiest ways to look for love Since she separated from her partner five years ago, Sarah has been on two dates. “Every time I think about it, I recoil at the idea of trusting someone like I did before,” she says. On the rare occasion she looks at a dating app – the last time, she deleted it after 24 hours – she scours the profiles for warning signs. “It’s very hard for me to see positives in people’s profiles. Would I like to meet someone again ..read more