A glamorous Tinder executive is encouraging singles to ditch the apps and meet people in real life — just like she did with her husband.
Tinder Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hobley met her husband, Paul Yau, at a bar in New York City’s West Village after approaching another handsome man her friend had a crush on. Now she wants to prepare young singles to meet up… in real life again!
‘[My friend] I found this guy at the bar interesting, so I went up to him and said, ‘My friend thinks you’re the hottest person in the West Village. You should definitely get her a drink,” she told The New York Times.
“He did, and then I started talking to his friend, and a few years later we got married.”
The part-time matchmaker, who doesn’t get paid for her services outside of the app, knows all too well that daters around the world are suffering from dating app fatigue.
Many people have even ditched the apps altogether, opting instead to use color-coded running clubs and pickleball courts to find their next partner.
Tinder Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hobley met her husband, Paul Yau, at a bar in New York City’s West Village after approaching another handsome man her friend had a crush on. Now she wants to prepare young singles to meet up… in real life again!
“It might sound funny coming from someone who works on the world’s largest dating app, but yeah, if you’re at a party, put your phone down. If you’re at a bar with interesting people, put your phone down,” she said. Pictured: A couple on a date
Tinder has even partnered with Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute to figure out the root cause of this exhaustion. And what does the 44-year-old think? The younger generation’s need for “instant gratification” is driving them crazy.
“They’re angry that the apps aren’t leading them to their true love within moments,” she told the outlet. “But that’s not how love works.”
“It might sound funny coming from someone who works at the world’s largest dating app, but yeah, if you’re at a party, put your phone down. If you’re at a bar with interesting people, put your phone down.”
However, she also knows that not everyone can meet their partner in real life, especially those with extremely busy schedules or those from the LGBT+ community who are not yet ready to tell their friends and family about their sexual orientation.
Even famous people have trouble finding The One, and Hobley knows this better than anyone, as she recently helped a RuPaul’s Drag Race star find “someone a quarter as amazing as themselves.”
However, she is well aware that not everyone will be able to meet their partner in real life, especially those with extremely busy schedules and members of the LGBT+ community, who are not quite ready to tell their friends and family about their sexual orientation.
She also recently helped a journalist find a “happy, committed relationship” after he/she “found it difficult being on an app.”
“I told him I have interesting people for him to meet,” she told The Times.
Hobley, who also worked at OkCupid, is so passionate about matchmaking — whether online or on Tinder — that she helped the app launch a new “exciting” feature that gives multiple friends and family members access to someone’s matches so they can “swipe for you.”
“We’re not very good at knowing who’s a good fit for us,” the Fordham University graduate said. “Even people who think they’re open aren’t really. We’re too quick and too judgmental.
“But other people can be more open-minded to you, and I think that’s why matchmaking works. Because some of these beautiful, amazing stories and connections come from being a little bit more open.”