{"id":642,"date":"2026-09-09T19:54:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/?p=642"},"modified":"2026-09-09T19:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:55:46","slug":"singles-are-finding-new-ways-to-meet-irl-pre-dating-speed-dating-featured-in-the-fort-lauderdale-sun-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/singles-are-finding-new-ways-to-meet-irl-pre-dating-speed-dating-featured-in-the-fort-lauderdale-sun-sentinel\/","title":{"rendered":"Singles are finding new ways to meet IRL: Pre-Dating featured in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Swiping fatigue is real \u2014 and singles are finding new ways to meet IRL: Find events here<\/h1>\n\n\n
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By Lois K. Solomon<\/a> | South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUBLISHED: September 9, 2026 at 9:50 AM EDT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THINGS TO DO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singles exhausted from the disappointment and impersonal nature of dating apps are hitting \u201cdelete\u201d on their phones and looking instead to an old-fashioned way of connecting: live, in person.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although some have met their matches through apps such as Hinge or Tinder, many say they are tired of swiping right and risking being rejected, ditched or ghosted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boca Raton resident Katie Gootenberg, 36, said she rarely checks her dating apps anymore. She said she has met some interesting potential partners over the past few years but has mostly been frustrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDating feels more challenging than it should be,\u201d said Gootenberg, a marketing professional. \u201cMost of the people I\u2019ve dated for longer periods, I\u2019ve met organically. They didn\u2019t come from the apps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Older dating sites that aren\u2019t evolving quickly are taking a hit. Bumble reported<\/a> a decreasing number of users and diminished engagement in its second quarter of 2026 report. And Match Group, which owns dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge and Match, said its total number of paying users plummeted 6% in the same second quarter,<\/a> although it cited increasing engagement on Tinder and healthy revenue growth at Hinge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, online ticket platform Eventbrite found \u201ca cultural shift back to live experiences,\u201d<\/a> with in-person gatherings such as trivia nights up 403%, bird-watching up 131% and Pilates socials growing 84%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re also wary of dating apps and looking for more traditional ways to meet people, South Florida is home to abundant sports leagues, outdoors clubs, game nights and singles mixers. Here are some upcoming possibilities for those looking for IRL (In Real Life) experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speed Dating for Singles Age 30s-40s:\u00a08 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at The Penalty Box at Residence Inn by Marriott, 5730 N. State Road 7, Coconut Creek.\u00a0Cost: $40.79. Visit\u00a0pre-dating.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Swiping fatigue is real \u2014 and singles are finding new ways to meet IRL: Find events here By Lois K. Solomon | South Florida Sun Sentinel PUBLISHED: September 9, 2026 at 9:50 AM EDT THINGS TO DO Singles exhausted from the disappointment and impersonal nature of dating apps are hitting \u201cdelete\u201d on their phones and looking instead to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,16],"tags":[29,14],"class_list":["post-642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-press-as-seen-in","tag-dating-trends","tag-pre-dating-as-seen-in"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":649,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pre-dating.com\/singles-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}