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Romance Gap

Learned a new phrase reading this branding story about Bumble. Dating apps are uniquely positioned to influence and tinker with societal norms and they have been doing that for a while. For the generation that grew up with dating apps being the primary if not sole vehicle to romance and partnership, the vocabulary from the app experience seeps into their private world. 

I have seen this play out in the lives of many young people I know. There are rules around exclusivity and what that means, when it is too soon and too late. What is means when two people say that they are in a relationship and also norms of break-up and life beyond. There is a lot that seems to be codified using the vocabulary set up by these apps. While alternating between the feelings of abundance and hope versus frustration and confusion, a lot of young people yearn to meet the love of their lives by accident - a bookstore, a train station, the laundromat or anywhere else in real life. That is probably a gap too in the world of romance.

According to a survey commissioned by Bumble — the women-first dating app — 74% of adults confess that when it comes to romantic relationships and dating, there are different expectations and expected behaviors based on gender identity. This, in turn, fuels the “romance gap,” a phenomenon defined as “The discrepancy in behavior expected from male/masculine presenting people and female/feminine presenting people when dating and in relationships.”

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