Regarding the latter question, IMO, the technological cat is out of the bag: we live in an era of global fast communication infrastructure. If those sites ceased to exist tomorrow, some other mechanism would quickly spring up to fill the void. People want those sites so it's people and culture that needs to be changed.

Some people want those sites. Others don't care.

Peak alienation under Kapital

I don't think any of these apps have had a meaningful influence.

For kids with rich parents, dating was always easy. And for those in an unlucky economic situation, mating success is still out of reach, despite all the apps.

The only thing that's really easier on those apps is fraud, like using photoshopped photos, AI filters, and made up awards.

> And for those in an unlucky economic situation, mating success is still out of reach, despite all the apps.

Surveys of sexual activity, marriage, and child birth all wildly disagree with your supposition.

The article seemed to define mating success as having a large pool of willing potential partners to choose from. I'm pretty sure that your options become more limited as your resources shrink.

Also, in the spirit of the article and the comment I was referring to, one could also count marriage as an indicator of low mating success, as it is a commitment which isn't usually part of a Tinder "date".