JANA HOCKING: It's official: dating apps are DEAD and these photos prove why

It's official: dating apps are dead.

If TikTok and my most recent findings are to be believed, they will be sent into space with barely a proper journey. RIP you carpal tunnel inducing app of false promises.

You see, all I heard during the holidays were friends whining and complaining about the fatigue of dating apps and how no one looks like them in their heavily filtered photos. How their personalities never match their text banter. How often they are stood up, ghosted or canceled at the last minute. And a quick scroll of TikTok will tell you the same thing.

There's video after video of people saying goodbye to the dating apps of 2023 – only to not return in 2024. Gen Zers are deleting their Tinders, scrapping their Bumbles, and picking out their hinges.

Sure, they catered some weddings, but for every wedding they also provided a hundred million bad date stories. Some even make the news.

Now blame it on the annual revival of the famous Christmas movie 'The Holiday' or a simple desperation to return to the good old days BA (before apps), but singles like me are now opting for a much better way to to date. And the results don't lie.

Yes, I'm telling you that 2024 is the year of the meet-cute. A popular new dating term used in movies or television shows as a funny or cute first meeting between two characters that leads to the development of a romantic relationship.

In recent years, I've had much more success with a “meet-cute” situation than with dating apps.

Take for example the time my newly single friend decided to host a lunch and instructed us, his single friends, to bring another single friend. The single guys brought their single friends, the single girls brought their single girlfriends, and it was a huge success. Two couples went out after that lunch and one couple is now even engaged.

'At Christmas I went to the local pub for lunch – planned by a friend who happened to invite ALL the singles. Guess what, it was another huge success. I met a very cute farmer who I hugged near the taxi stand,” Jana said

At Christmas I went to the local pub for lunch – planned by a friend who happened to invite ALL the singles. Guess what, it was another huge success. I met a really cute farmer who I hugged near the taxi stand (I know, cringe a bit!) and two of my girlfriends went on a date.

It was like going straight back to '90s-style dating. You know when you would fall in love with a guy on the dance floor and one of your friends would 'accidentally' push you into him? The original 'swipe right.'

There's something glorious about waking up the next day with fond memories of flirting with someone in a bar. Make eyes. See if they look back at you. The expectation that they will ask for your number. If the evening is a real success, even a quick caress before jumping into a taxi. Or better yet, they jump with you.

Oh meet-cutes are just the best!

'Okay, so a confession. One evening, after quite a few wines, I decided it would be a good idea to order some business cards online with my number on them to give to handsome strangers,” Jana said.

That said, it's also normal to feel a little overwhelmed by the idea of ​​meeting someone in real life again. Oh, how we loved hiding behind the screens of our little phones. But you see, you don't have to launch yourself into a bar full of strangers and force the nearest hottie to make eyes with you. Good lord, you need balls of steel for that. Or at least a pitcher of margaritas.

No no. Meet-cutes can be arranged in advance. Simply ask your coupled friends to bring their single friends to the next BBQ, catch up in the pub or dinner. There's no pressure from an annoying blind date because you can just pass it off as a catch-up between old and new friends. If the singletons succeeded there, hurray, great success. If they don't, that's no problem. There will always be another pub outing, another barbecue, another divorcee to play with.

But if you would like to have a nice meeting, I have come up with quite successful methods to meet someone in real life:

“Two of my friends scored a date,” Jana said of the same lunch

1. Go to places where your 'type' is most likely to go. For example, if you like warm tradies, go to the local pub. If you prefer banker types, why not visit a fancy wine bar?

2. Use friends as your superpower. Ask them to invite other single friends they know to the next event. Ask them if their partners know some friends they can put you in touch with. Ask them if there are any nice singles at their work. Friends who can play cupid (and give you a good reference) are worth their weight in gold.

3. Make cheeky business cards with your number. Okay, so a confession. One evening, after quite a few wines, I decided it would be a good idea to order some business cards online with my number on them so I could give them to handsome strangers the next time I was out. You know, like they used to do in the '90s rom-coms. “Hey, take my business card. Let's chat'. Here's an example of the cards that arrived in the mail a week later. Have I ever mustered up the courage to use them? Not yet, but I plan to!

And listen, if you're not quite ready to get back into the real world, maybe do what my last date did. Slide into the old DMs. At least Instagram profiles give us a much better background check than the potential catfish swimming around the apps.

Now go out and be brave! Your libido can thank you for it!