The “Deleting Dating Apps” Meme Is A Hilarious Reminder That “Old-Fashioned” Romance Is Bonkers
"Deleting dating apps because I want to meet someone the old-fashioned way (making eye contact with a cute stranger I'll never see again on commute)"
Let’s be real, trying to find love in the modern world is tough because dating apps give a person far too much choice these days.
In philosophy, this concept is called The Paradox of Choice, which is basically a fancy way of saying giving a person too many choices makes them not want to make any selection because there’s this constant fear of missing out on the “better option”.
And when it comes to dating apps, it’s true. It’s hard to settle on the first good match you make because you know there is always going to be someone else out there.
Just look at how many dating apps are currently on the market. Between Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Her, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Grinder and Badoo, there are so many options that it’s almost overwhelming. And honestly, sometimes you really just have to delete your dating apps and take a breather because there are just too many choices available.
Well, lucky for everyone who’s fed up with modern dating, Twitter has banded together to provide some “old-fashioned ways” to help you find love once you ditch the apps. Enter: The ‘Deleting Dating Apps Because I Want To Meet Someone The Old-Fashioned Way’ meme.
Deleting dating apps so I can find love the old fashioned way (being locked in a tower until an ogre and his donkey come and rescue me)
— perry (@Perry__Gould) June 12, 2021
Like with anything that happens online, ‘Deleting Dating Apps Because I Want To Meet Someone The Old-Fashioned Way’ is just one huge pisstake, but it sure is funny.
The whole thing began at the start of June when @ronnypascale tweeted that he had deleted all his dating apps to find love the traditional way by “looking for women to untie from train tracks” — an obvious reference to the common “damsel in distress” cinema trope that started in the 1800s.
From here, @jzux made the same joke but instead chose to reference the classic high school-required watch, Holes. In Holes, one character named Sam famously exchanges a huge-ass bag of onions for some spiced peaches from his crush, Miss Katherine. Because obviously nothing screams traditional romance like a hefty bag of root vegetables.
I deleted all dating apps from my phone. Now I’m looking for love the old fashioned way, looking for women to untie from train tracks.
— Comedy Boy Ronny Pascale (@ronnypascale) June 4, 2021
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he sells me onions, i sell him jars of spiced peaches)
— trash jones (@jzux) June 8, 2021
Naturally, people turned “Deleting My Dating Apps” into a full-blown meme by adding a number of baffling romance plotlines to highlight the ridiculousness of a lot of “old-fashioned” markers of romance.
For example, the whole concept of Edward Cullen ~romantically~ stalking Bella all because he wanted her blood in Twilight and Jay Gatsby constantly throwing expensive parties in the hopes of Daisy one day joining in The Great Gatsby don’t really leave the best impression.
deleting dating apps bc i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (get cheated on by my boyfriend of 6 years, find an apartment on craigslist, move in with three guy roommates, yearn over someone who lives across the hall, kiss in the elevator to lorde’s green light)
— Jessica Lawrence (@jesslawrenzo) June 10, 2021
deleting my dating apps bc I wanna meet someone the old fashioned way (doing karaoke at a ski lodge on new year’s eve)
— ????????? (@spinubzilla) June 11, 2021
Deleting dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (moving states and having the palest boy in school threaten to drink my blood)
— suki (@desukidesu) June 13, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (we make eye contact across a crowded room and die tragically as a result of our feuding families)
— SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) June 9, 2021
Deleting the dating apps to meet someone the old fashioned way (on a train to Vienna and then again 10 years later at my book reading in Paris)
— Alex Arriaga (@alexarriaga__) June 12, 2021
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he says i am not handsome enough to tempt him, i tell him he is the last man in the world i could ever be prevailed upon to marry)
— meg-Han Solo (@red10meg) June 15, 2021
Deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old-fashioned way (he throws giant parties for me in hopes I'll show up and stares at a green light on a far away dock).
— Jess Lulka (she/her/hers) (@jlulks) June 10, 2021
Deleting dating apps so I can find someone the old-fashioned way (finding out I’m the heir to a throne, then realizing my best friend’s brother loved me before I turned out to be a princess.)
— Meg Cabot (@megcabot) June 15, 2021
But some people took the concept of “old-fashioned dating” more seriously, and shared the real ways they try to date people without the use of modern-day apps.
Of course, there are the classics of being absolutely shit-faced at the bar and getting cat-called on the street, but then there’s the ultimate modern love story: Making eye contact with strangers on public transport who you’ll never see again.
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (blacked out at a bar)
— Alex (@alexgmurd) June 6, 2021
Deleting all my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way, I walk down the street in my gym gear he wolf whistles out of his 2004 corsa.
— ITS YA GURL ELLE (@Elle_louise0) June 9, 2021
deleting dating apps so i can find love the old way (following, them following me back, liking one of their photos, them liking one of my photos and never messaging each other)
— con ??????? (@smythsdisco) June 12, 2021
deleting dating apps because I want to meet someone the old-fashioned way (making eye contact with a cute stranger i’ll never see again on commute)
— ? 〄 (@strwb3rrymlk) June 13, 2021
However, my personal favourite old-fashioned way of finding love is by staying at home and doing nothing at all but still expecting all potential partners to come find me.
deleting dating apps because i want to fail to meet someone the old fashioned way (not even bothering to try)
— dinosaur (@dinoman_j) June 13, 2021
Oh, how I love love.