Amy Andersen knows singles. She's the CEO behind Linx Dating, a 10-year-old matchmaking company that caters to the men and women of Silicon Valley.
By the times most singles make it to Andersen's office, they have tried it all -- online matchmaking, set ups, apps and even the world of "hot" or "not" on Tinder. And it's that technology that Andersen said is getting in the way.
"A lot of guys are on Facebook and Match and eHarmony and Tinder and they've forgotten how to treat a lady," Andersen said.
But she gets why people turn to tech dating.
"Pretty non-social jobs leads to a lot of loneliness for these employees," Andersen said. "So in order to Band-Aid or remedy the loneliness, they jump online."
The irony of working in tech, the very industry that creates dating apps which are supposed to match people up, but instead keeps them single is not lost on tech executive Adam O'Donnell.
"It's a lot of first dates. People cycle through large numbers of first dates because the technology that's available makes it feel like there's an infinite amount of possibilities out there. But there really isn't," O'Donnell said. "If there's anything off about someone, people say next and go to the next thing. I feel like it's social junk food. It's a little bit of a sugar high and makes you feel like you're connected to somebody, but it's not a true connection."
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Andersen agrees.
"Even though that man is seeing hundreds, maybe even thousands of women in front of him, who like him, are looking for a decent match, the reality is that there are really only a few decent matches from the online community," she said. "They're lacking a deep empathetic and soulful connection. Someone that's on their level that is empathetic and gets them."
