In the age of digital romance, dating apps have transformed love into a transactional, algorithm-driven experience. As Bauman’s concept of “liquid love” and Byung-Chul Han’s critique of consumerism suggest, this shift undermines true emotional connection. Andrés Abeliuk explores how platforms prioritize engagement over meaningful relationships, turning intimacy into a fleeting commodity. Amid this commodification, can technology ever truly foster the vulnerability and depth required for lasting love?

Bauman coined the term "liquid love" to characterize modern relationships as flexible and ephemeral, with few connections feeling permanent. The digitisation of love–through dating apps–is symptomatic of this fluidity, making relationships seem disposable and the security once found in long-term partnerships is replaced by the ease of finding new options and a diminished fear of rejection. With relationships becoming commodified, reliance on algorithms can diminish our capacity for real love. Byung-Chul Han argues that true love requires a willingness to risk vulnerability, contrasting authentic eros, a deep connection with the other, against the superficial, transactional nature of love in a consumerist society. Dating apps can create connections that are easily replaced and often short-lived, hurting true emotional closeness. Together, Bauman and Han show that contemporary dating culture, propelled by technology, often deviates from meaningful emotional connection toward an endless cycle of swipes and quick judgments, turning relationships into convenience transactions.

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This transformation in how we approach intimacy parallels broader trends in algorithmic influence across modern life. Algorithmic product recommendations, for instance, can lead individuals to consume less diverse items through a self-reinforcing loop where users are repeatedly exposed to similar content, limiting their exposure to new or different options. Yet nowhere is the digitisation of social life more personal than in dating. The search for love—once mediated by organic social contexts—is increasingly facilitated by algorithms.

Dating apps present an ecosystem where people searching for romance are connected through algorithmic matchmaking. These algorithms play a critical role in shaping human interactions and determining which users are introduced as potential romantic partners. By analysing preferences, behaviours, and compatibility metrics, these systems profoundly influence who users meet and form relationships with. In a Bauman-esque sense, this fosters a dynamic of "liquid love," where bonds may be easily formed but just as quickly dissolved. It also raises questions about how algorithmic matchmaking shapes human connections on and off the screen, and whether it truly facilitates meaningful relationships.

The business model dilemma

Online dating platforms promise to connect us with our ideal partners, but their primary goal is often profit maximization. Dating services rely on having a large and active user base to sustain revenue. This creates a fundamental conflict of interest: facilitating optimal matches may lead to successful, long-term relationships, reducing the number of active users and, consequently, losing potential revenue. To mitigate this, platforms are incentivized to adopt strategies that prioritise engagement over true long-term connections. For instance, algorithms might favour popular users, enhancing their visibility to maintain overall user activity, but potentially leading to biases against less popular individuals.