Another one bites the dust. When I heard the news that ParshipMeet Group just installed a new CEO (congrats, Marc), I couldn’t help but think that 2025 is a bad year to be CEO of a dating company.

Let’s recap the leadership upheavals we’ve seen so far this year:

And it’s only February!

This troubling pattern in the online dating industry speaks to the problems we’ve seen in membership retention and satisfaction with the apps.

Gen Z in particular has fallen out of love with the swiping scene. They’re gung-ho about deleting the apps and using in-person alternatives or non-dating networks like Instagram or LinkedIn instead.

Let’s talk about how we got to this point.

In Apps We Trust? Not So Much

Dating apps have had quite a journey over the last two decades. They’ve overcome the stigma of being the last resort of the desperate and lonely, become the de facto way to meet singles for a time, and now they’re criticized as too crowded, too superficial, too impersonal.

I’ve been pretty vocal over the years as a fan of online dating. But I agree something needs to be done about swiping fatigue.

Users who haven’t had success on the apps are stuck in a loveless purgatory, and more profiles to swipe on doesn’t seem to be the answer. 

Match Group, which owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and Match, among other properties, reported numbers that don’t look great for long-term growth. The company is quickly pivoting toward AI in a new strategy headed by Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff.

AI could provide shortcuts and assistance to online daters feeling the pain points. But will that be enough to tempt users back? 

Apps can throw money at marketing campaigns and rebranding, but the crux of the issue goes back to user trust and satisfaction.

It’s not just that Gen Z is blithely swearing off apps or swearing off dating – they’re facing an environment that profits off loneliness. And saying no to that. Modern singles want apps to do better. 

App leaders need to reconcile the inherent tension between what drives revenue and what satisfies the user.

Is success getting as many people as possible hooked to a swiping carousel? Is it getting a ton of paid users? Or is it actually matching people on dates? 

And how does a company make money when users believe the services should be free?

Match Group is betting the thought leader behind Zillow has all the answers. Bumble is hastily getting back to its feminist roots with Whitney Wolfe-Herd. It’s clear across the board that new developments are on the way. If you throw a lot of AI tools at the wall, something’s gotta stick, right?

Looking Ahead: Apps Must Adapt or Die

We often talk about single people like they’re a monolith. But that demographic is constantly changing. 

Single Gen Xers in the ‘90s thought online dating was embarrassing (or cringe, as kids today would say).

My generation of Millennials embraced technology and made it possible for Tinder and Bumble to thrive (sorry, not sorry!). The innovation of swiping for matches changed the game and has dominated the market for over a decade now.

And now Gen Z is over it. They’re immersed in online activity, jaded to the nth degree, and burnt out by the false promises and shady deals.

So what is an online dating company to do? Change leadership, change direction, and, hopefully, change the current landscape to something more workable for young people seeking real connections, not superficial games.

Cancel culture is coming for swiping apps like Tinder, but online dating has weathered social stigma before, and I’ll wager it’ll endure this bout — though the CEOs may not.

This isn’t the first time online dating has caught flack, and it probably won’t be the last. My prediction is the innovators will rise to the top and, hopefully, create a better product that young people can get behind.