Flirting has been around since the dawn of time, and has played a key social and evolutionary role in helping us to test the compatibility of our partners. The very continuation of our species depends on how we flirt. But flirting has drastically changed since the digital revolution and dating apps - with unknown consequences. No longer do we lock eyes across a bar or meet people at work, instead we interact through a phone screen. With population growth set to halt by 2100, studies studies showing 74% of young women having less sex than ever before, and around 80% of people feeling “burnout” and “emotional fatigue” from dating online; the new era of flirting does not seem to be going well.
Should we be making a concerted effort to once again meet people in person, not only for the good of our own love lives but for the very continuation of the species? Is something irreplaceable lost when we use dating apps, such as the serendipity of a chance meeting or the energy exchange felt in the presence of a potential partner? Or must we embrace the new era of technology and accept thousands of years of flirting in person is over?