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![UNLCKED](https://new-cdn.mamamia.com.au/mamamia-pwa.appspot.com/cms_images/variations/600x600-937294726452.jpg)
As a single girlie, I can say with absolute confidence: dating in 2024 is a dumpster fire.
If you're lucky enough to run into a real person as opposed to a bot on a dating app, and you get past the painful small talk (because how good can banter really be online?), you meet for a drink only to discover that the 6'5", 39-year-old dude you were chatting with is actually a 5'4", 60-year-old. And no, I'm not height-ist; I just don't like liars.
Then add into the equation a person's... specific sexual taste. Which, let's be honest, many of us have (more than you'd think) and it's 2024 so we're not kink-shaming these days, mmmkay? As long as everybody's consenting and nothing illegal is going down, go forth and get your pleasure however you like.
One person who understands these modern dating dramas is Lauren Rose, the founder of UNLCKED — the first sex-positive adult social platform designed to match users with other people that share their specific kinks (— and safely, without the BS).
"I was very much single and chasing what many women are looking for: that happily ever after," she shares. "But the dating apps are absolutely soul crushing. Neverending games, fairytale promises. At one point, I was using nine different dating apps at once. I even tried overseas ones, the desperation was real! Either they're not real, so you're talking to bots or you show up on and date and they're not who they said they were — having my time wasted."
After too many failed encounters, Lauren was done with dating, but "still had needs" ("No number of toys could satisfy my usual kinks," she laughs) — so she started thinking about how to still have sex "without all the bulls**t".
Just walk into a bar! I hear you cry. But, no. We all know it isn't that simple. Especially when you're looking for a very specific type of fun — like Lauren was.