Skip to main content

Episode app has a story of its own to tell about the future of dating

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it seems like just about everyone is looking for a fairy tale, or is excited to tell their own. And here to help is Episode, a storytelling network and platform featuring interactive stories built for mobile. To date, 5.5 million users (most of whom are young women) have become authors in their own right, creating some 2.5 billion animated stories featuring original scripts and characters. And every once in awhile, Episode checks in with its fast-growing user base to better understand exactly what kinds of stories they’re interested in telling.

When the app asked about Valentine’s Day, it received 23,000 responses from young women around the nation, and now has a story of its own to tell about the future of dating, from the perspective of Generation Z.

Recommended Videos

For starters, it looks as though the future of dating lies in apps. Already, a plethora of options abound, including Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. And while it may have been taboo when it first began, it now seems to be the way of the world — in fact, Episode found that 57 percent of respondents had never dated someone they met offline. That means 57 percent of respondents have exclusively dated people they met via an app or dating website. In fact, 50 percent of young women today say they exclusively date online.

Perhaps this penchant for efficiency when it comes to choosing a mate has also led to a general distaste for the hearts and flowers that come along with Valentine’s Day. 63 percent of Episode’s respondents said V-Day was overrated, and nearly 20 percent said they would rather celebrate with their friends (Galentine’s Day) than with a date.

If they do go out on a date, Episode’s data suggests that there’s a 14 percent chance of experiencing a first date on the most romantic day of the year. Conversely, there’s an 8 percent chance of experiencing a breakup.

Of course, you could always look at Valentine’s Day as just another day in the middle of the year. But if you’re looking to turn it into something more, you could turn it into a story by way of Episode.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
A person holding a phone with the Instagram app open on it.

Oh, social media. Sometimes it’s just too much, folks.

If you’re finding yourself in a position where shutting down your Instagram account for a period of time sounds good, the people at Meta have made it pretty simple to deactivate it. It’s also quite easy to completely delete your Instagram, although we wouldn’t recommend this latter option if you plan on returning to the platform at a later date.

Read more
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more