Dating trend: Find true love – without an app

Pineapple instead of a dating app
This is how we get to know each other offline again

It has been wiped out: Many people are no longer interested in getting to know each other virtually via platforms like Tinder, Bumble and Co. and would instead like to meet people in real life again. These new analog dating trends are designed to help singles find their match.

The end of online dating?

In recent years, more and more dating platforms have conquered the internet with promising advertising slogans. One says “the app is made to be deleted” and the other says “every ten minutes a single falls in love with…”. They all promise exactly what some desperate users want: to land the perfect match. In return, we provide them with our most intimate data – and then they swipe diligently left and right.

While some are lucky and fall in love with the help of such an app, others are just wiping their thumbs sore. The result: match graveyard, disappointment and self-doubt. Now you might think that no one is forced to sign up for Tinder or Bumble. Just go to the bar or to a sports class and look for love there! The only problem is that these platforms have made it more difficult to address people in real life. Many people are self-conscious, afraid of rejection and then prefer to rely on the apps.

Couples and sex therapist Birgit Fehst also points out that online dating has the advantage of convenience for many: “Dating platforms offer a supermarket of possible partners and people jump on it and move on to the next one if the last one isn’t so perfect “It was as expected,” she explains and adds, “The fact that relationships mean work is a little forgotten.” You don’t have to be surprised that this doesn’t lead to a partnership for life.

Bring on the pineapple!

However, there are tricks to make the analog dating process easier. In Spain, for example, the “Hora de Ligar” (German: mating hour) was introduced, during which singles search for their mating in the supermarket perfect match seek. Every day between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., those looking to date come to the branches of the “Mercadona” supermarket chain to meet like-minded people. To signal their willingness to mate, the Spaniards simply have to place a pineapple upside down in the shopping cart. Anyone who then meets another person with the identifying feature can speak to them and – if interested – exchange numbers. On social media, the dating trend is celebrated as “Merca-Dating” or “Tinder-Dona”.

Not only in Spain, but also in Germany, many singles no longer feel like wasting their time on dating apps. There are therefore some offers in this country that help you get to know new acquaintances and potential partners. An Edeka branch in Hagen purchased pink shopping baskets for a dating experiment. Customers who transport their groceries in them send the message, “I’m single, you’re welcome to talk to me.” Not only are people diligently looking for bargains, but they may also bag a flirt or two.

Running clubs instead of Tinder

For those who find supermarket dating less appealing, there are of course alternative programs. Recently, for example, so-called running clubs have been considered a good place to go for singles. The trend in which active people meet up to jog together spread from Great Britain and the USA to Germany. It is the perfect alternative to online dating. Because instead of being in a bad mood in front of the smartphone screen, exercise in the fresh air hardly gives us an extra portion of endorphins – and perhaps a partner for life.

ekke
Bridget