Dating, he says, morphs into a sophisticated swap-meet for sameness. We swipe to find our own reflection. Narcissus, patron saint of the algorithm, beckons us back to the mirror.

Love, in these TikToks, is presented as something you can simply choose to consume, not as something that necessarily consumes you. The knowledge that you’re worthy of love is somehow supposed to inoculate you from bad love, which you might experience briefly and then politely decline, confident that something better is out there.

“OnlyFans commoditized intimacy. It’s a tale as old as time—people are willing to pay for things they need, and they need intimacy and connection now more than ever. It seems capitalism slowly works its way up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and we’ve hit the Love & Belonging rung of the ladder with dating apps, paid communities, and fan subscription... See more

I told someone recently I was looking for love who responded “in this economy?" I feel pathetic admitting this, someone else texted me, but I want a boyfriend. When I scroll through TikTok, skinny women wearing sweatbands dole out romantic advice: if he wanted to he would, no sex until the third date, how to get him to commit, red flags, green... See more