In a 2023 Pew survey of US adults, nearly one-third of respondents said they had used an online dating site or app at least once. More than half of women who had used the apps reported feeling overwhelmed by the number of messages they had received in the past year, while 64% of men said they felt insecure from the lack of messages they had gotten. Though an overwhelming majority of men and women said they’d felt excited about people they connected with, an even-larger proportion of respondents said they were sometimes or often disappointed by their matches.
Online, it isn’t always easy to know whether the human behind an alluring profile is who and what they say they are. Even relatively innocuous virtual deceptions – such as outdated or ultraflattering photos of themselves that misrepresent how they look in person or fudged facts about their interests and accomplishments – can be disheartening. Then there are the people who fabricate or steal their entire profile, a practice known as “catfishing,” leaving anyone getting hit up by a stranger online justifiably skeptical. All these deceptions have left many people with dating-software fatigue as they search for ways to take back some control of their romantic fate.
LinkedIn’s appeal because the a dating site, according to individuals who make use of it like that, ‘s the platform’s capability to surrender a number of that handle and you may boost the quality of the candidates. Because professional-networking website asks users so you can link to their newest and you will previous employers’ character pages, this has an additional covering out-of trustworthiness you to definitely other social-news systems lack. Of a lot users likewise incorporate very first-person sources away from previous acquaintances and you will executives – genuine people who have real character profiles.
For even individuals who bashful off having fun with LinkedIn to direction to have dates, your website has-been a chance-to help you unit to possess vetting intimate people located because of old-fashioned matchmaking apps or in-person experiences
Some users have taken this idea to the extreme. Last summer, a British expat in Singapore, Candice Gallagher, made waves after send an effective TikTok video in which she said LinkedIn had “A-grade filters” for finding “A-grade men” – namely, doctors, lawyers, and “finance bros.” In the post, she touted the various filters you could use to track down ideal partners. More recently, a screenshot of the tech entrepreneur George Hotz’s LinkedIn bio was shared on X. In his bio, Hotz declared that he now used the site “exclusively as a dating platform” and laid out a catalog of requisite attributes – “intelligent, attractive, female, in or visiting San Diego” – for his ideal match. “Send me a message and invite me out for a drink,” he wrote.
“Social network is just one big matchmaking software,” John told me. “Almost any social media where you are able to look for mans photographs can change on the an online dating application. And you may LinkedIn is much better because it is not only exhibiting people’s fake lives.”
An issue of agree
Charlotte Warren, a 30-year-old content creator who lives in Austin, sees things differently. Warren posts TikTok movies throughout the relationship and has received more than her fair share of advances from unknown men on LinkedIn. Though she said that the men were usually reaching out under some flimsy guise of professional networking or “mentorship,” many had bare-bones profile pages kissbridesdate.com visit the web site that suggested they weren’t seriously using the platform for work. Several of her friends and colleagues across genders have received similar messages, she said, and were similarly put off by them.
“Anyone spends LinkedIn differently, however, I believe usually, people find it pretty intrusive and you will improper” for all those for action in order to see romantic people, Warren said.