Summer reissue: Alie Benge signed up to a dating app with a sense of dread. What she found restored her faith in people – and in love itself, she writes, in the first instalment of a new series following her dating journey. First published August 29, 2020. I went into the first lockdown a hardcore … Read more
In the final instalment of her column about her adventures in online dating, Alie Benge ponders a world that isn’t afraid of love. I’m obsessed with love. All forms are fascinating. Familial love, aromantic love, queer love, desire, friendship. But my interest has come from a position of anthropological curiosity. In my own life, I’ve … Read more
In the latest instalment of her series chronicling the ins and outs of dating in 2020, Alie Benge details the unique challenges of dating while Christian. I’m part of a rare Christian archetype: the unmarried 30-year-old. You’ll see us prowling the edges of a congregation, hook noses and one blind eye, looking for an opportune … Read more
In the latest in our series chronicling the ins and outs of dating in 2020, Alie Benge explains her reliance on the ‘friend committee’ to judge the suitability of every love interest. Abby came to my desk in a panic. She was meeting Sia that weekend. For the first time, she’d be going on a … Read more
In the second of our series on Alie Benge’s dating journey, she ponders if that intangible, unpredictable thing that is spark is really as crucial as she’d always believed it to be. I usually leave dates feeling buzzed from the interaction, regardless of how well it went. A few weeks ago, for the first time, … Read more
Alie Benge signed up to a dating app with a sense of dread. What she found restored her faith in people – and in love itself, she writes, in the first instalment of a new series following her dating journey. I went into the first lockdown a hardcore introvert, one of those annoying people talking … Read more
What could an online private investigator discover about you? Madeleine Chapman paid $99 to find out. When my colleague mentioned in passing that she once stood front row at a Beyoncé concert and incoherently screamed a line of a song into Beyoncé’s microphone, and that footage of the incident was somewhere on Youtube, I knew … Read more
Everyone heads to the internet to dispel loneliness and boredom. Sharon Lam headed there in search of lonely Asian women, and found them everywhere she looked. Recently I’ve found myself feeling a little less lonely, despite moving to a city where I have one friend, as compared to Wellington, where I had like three. Yes, … Read more
Holding up a fish in your Tinder profile is one thing, but what about firearms? Hannah Reid finds concerning meaning behind the dating profile trend. Yet another mass shooting in the United States. More conversations about how lucky we are to live in New Zealand, with our Arms Act 1983 and no pesky second amendment … Read more
Dick pics are widely considered a form of sexual violence. But while that is often true, they can also be funny, sexy and playful. Apparently, some straight guys even send them to each other. Why do men send dick pics? Some research and popular commentary suggests it is for reasons of narcissism and over-confidence. Some … Read more
Almost universally, men’s online dating user descriptions are terrible. Madeleine Holden recently launched a modest enterprise to help. A little over a month ago, I launched my latest, semi-serious side hustle: for the princely sum of $25, I will draft men’s Tinder or Bumble bios for them. Soon after I dashed off the tweet that … Read more
Because dating isn’t already horrible enough, an app named Attractive World recently launched in New Zealand aiming to make it worse. Current members decide whether prospective members are hot enough to be allowed in. Lucy Zee went undercover to see if it was as shitty as it looked. First published on August 22, 2017. Last … Read more
Every week we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Elliot Riley, Jess Smith and James McCann, founders of Rendezvous, a dating app that lets you avoid the awkward online pre-chat and cuts straight to the chase. ONE: How did Rendezvous start and what was your … Read more
Racists, body shamers and wannabe pickup artists: This week, Ms. X shares some terrible Tinder profiles supplied by you, her readers. Hello Callers, Cast your minds back a few weeks, when I butted into a Tinder conversation between reader ‘Linda’ and a gentleman whom I christened, for admittedly obscure reasons, ‘Guilty Denver’. Seemingly inspired by … Read more