I love reading non-fiction books that unfold like fiction and this book checks all the boxes. The author intersperses her own personal difficulties in attempting to find a partner via dating apps along with the research she did for the book. Nancy Jo Sales provides detailed statistics about how dating apps seek to data mine their users personal information in order to sell their information to other for profit vendors. She also shares the results of interviews she had with the developers and executives of many of the big-name sites. Sales details the responses she received when she shared her concerns about how apps are leading to more disconnection, intimate violence, and impacting their customer’s lives.
The author is very candid about her own participation in hook-up culture and the double standards that are still happening for women. She also researches the shockingly low number of actual marriages and long-term relationships that are resulting from these site matches. I was impressed by how she was able to find those relatable moments where she allowed herself to be vulnerable and introspective.
She was able to reflect on why she was willing to let partners treat her as sexual objects and why her self-esteem was impacted when she let herself believe that she had to look a certain way, be a certain age, or a specific weight to be consider herself worthy of love. A definite must read for anyone who is currently online dating or has young women in their life who are impacted by the influence of social media and online dating.
