Why don’t one-on-one dating apps work?

Dating apps have become a major global phenomenon and have changed the way we meet, hook up and form relationships with one another. While many of us spend hours swiping through pictures of hot guys with their cute dogs, how many of us actually find success in what we are looking for?

Here are some reasons why “classic” dating apps don’t work:

1. Many of us never actually meet up with our matches

According to a study Pew Research Center performed earlier this year, about one third of dating app users never actually go out on dates with their matches. While two thirds do go out on dates, there are many users who choose to swipe without making the effort to meet anyone from an app. Many of us feel too much pressure to meet a stranger who is attracted to our picture but yet we know almost nothing about. First dates can be very awkward, but when the date is solely based on a swipe, the awkwardness level can be higher than usual. Sometimes it’s easier to just swipe from your bed as you watch Netflix, as opposed to actually meeting up strangers from an app on your own.

2. Fuckboy comments and Tinder Nightmares

“If your right leg was dinner and your left leg was lunch, I couldn’t resist snacking between meals.” That’s just one of the many opening lines you can findtindernightmares’ Instagram account. Hilarious, dirty, and at times, offensive, comments like that fill many of our inboxes on dating apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. Everyone uses dating apps for different reasons, but fuckboy comments aren’t usually appreciated, especially for those who are looking to make real connections with other users. Comments like these make for a good Instagram post, but in general, when they come in high volume, people are simply turned off from using these types of apps to meet someone new.

3. Who starts the conversation?

While there are apps like Bumble, where women are empowered to start the conversation first, many people match, but never start a conversation. Sometimes there’s the short high of actually getting a match with someone you find really attractive, but other times it just feels like a numbers game, where you’re not forming real connections with anyone. Plus, messaging someone on your own and not getting a response can still feel like rejection. And of course, sometimes people do answer, awesome conversations are had, and then either you do the ghosting or your match ghosts you, leaving you wondering, where did it all go wrong?!

Where does Squad fall into this?

One thing that all of these issues have in common is that they all happen in one-on-one situations, and not when you’re in a group how one-on-one dating apps function as opposed to group dating apps. Squad allows you to make profiles for you and your friends, and swipe through other squads who you might be interested in meeting. Going out with friends takes off a lot of the pressure that one-on-one dates often put on us. Instead of needing to plan an escape route if a date goes sour, you have your girlfriends with you to soften the awkwardness (and share the laughs) if things don’t go as planned.

Group dates also take out the aspect of a hard rejection — if you don’t match with a squad, you can’t take it personally. It’s also less confronting since no one in the squad matches with a specific person. In terms of starting a conversation, there’s no pressure of who should message first, it’s basically a group text! You know, as always, that your friends will jump in if a conversation starts to go south.

Squad also monitors their users and takes fuckboys out of the squad network. Users get flagged if they say anything inappropriate — this keeps the app filled with people who actually want to meet new people and have a good time.

Although these dates also result from using a dating app, once you meet, things feel way more organic, as if you met them at friend’s birthday party, or at your favorite bar. Using Squad means no to the pressure of awkward one-on-one dates and yes to lots of fun with your girlfriends.