Why Dating Apps Slowly Destroy Your Self-Worth

Joachim woke up after an hour or so and realized he had to be at school soon.

After the hectic night, all he needed was a shower.

He felt groggy, but it wasn’t just from lack of sleep but from the forbidden, irritating feeling that had eaten into him during the night’s reading.

After he got dressed, he had a few minutes to spare before it was time to finish working on the algorithm and then submit the project description to ARTAI.

Somehow it felt good not to have to meet her today, but at the same time it was something he wanted.

He pushed the thoughts away.

They were contradictory and difficult.

The code would surely take the edge off.

It usually did that with difficult feelings.

Before he headed off to campus, he picked up his phone and went to Nikki’s profile on Dating Line again.

It gave him the same feeling of spying as last night, but why?

She was open about it to the whole world, and he did nothing more than anyone else could do.

He scrolled down to that date he had read several times yesterday and he started writing the short text again.

He didn’t leave any likes or texts.

He just read:

The Tinder date went beyond expectations.

He knew what my favorite drink was, and it was ready when I walked in.

I was so tired after everything at university, but he made me feel like a princess.

But this princess was probably too tired to appreciate the thoughtfulness and company.

After half a French 75, I felt like I just wanted to go home to Netflix and by then he had barely told me anything about himself but honestly… Broker?

;D

Oh well.

Tomorrow it’s time for a new art project at school.

It’s the last thing we’re going to do and it’s going to last at most half the semester before it’s time for internship and then…

well then.

What’s next?

The world?

Maybe Europe?

South America?

Asia?

Maybe I should skip all the dates here and wait for what’s around the corner?

No, it’s way too late for thoughts like this.

It was a taxi home and on the way home.

Good night to you darlings and see you tomorrow.

Now Netflix #serialsarelife

She had published this text two days before he and she first started working together.

It was the same day that Nikki had shown with all the desired clarity that she had been on a lousy date.

But her Dating Line said something completely different.

He had thought about it last night and he was thinking about it now.

Obviously, she was completely lying about her date.

And the more he scrolled through her feed, the more he got the impression that she seemed to want to show off an exterior that would seem perfect.

The latest post was from yesterday and it said she was going to start an experiment.

That was what puzzled him.

Had she planned to lie about these dates too?

The dates his AI would pick out?

If so, how would she justify it in her project?

A slight feeling of unease spread through her body.

Would she get them rejected by lying about the project on her social media?

Could they be, or was it her artistic freedom?

Either way, he understood one thing clearly and distinctly.

He couldn’t tell her that he was following her on Dating Line.

That would ruin everything he had built up so far.

He got ready to get onto campus.

Maybe the real problem was never love — only the way people searched for it.