Deleting My Dating Apps Because I Want to Meet Someone the Old Fashioned Way (A Literary Roundup)
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
Alison Doherty
Senior ContributorAlison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.
When a Twitter meme is born, the literary community always rises to the occasion. And is there anything we can all agree about more than hating on dating apps? Swiping right or left can’t really compare with Mr. Darcy telling Elizabeth Bennet he loves her most ardently. And a barrage of messages reading “hey” isn’t the stuff of Shakespeare. Last week, Twitter folks began bemoaning the lack of romance in modern dating apps by tweeting “deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way” and following the phrase with a witty anecdote. As per usual, Book Twitter ran with this referencing books from Moby Dick to Twilight.
The Twitter meme actually began with a pretty genius reference to the children’s book Holes by Louis Sachar.
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he sells me onions, i sell him jars of spiced peaches)
— trash jones (@jzux) June 8, 2021
Then a tweet about Romeo and Juliet really blew the meme up.
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (we make eye contact across a crowded room and die tragically as a result of our feuding families)
— SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) June 9, 2021
And someone decided to bring Hamlet into it as well (not Shakespeare’s most romantic play…alas).
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he kills my father and brother and his uncle who married his mother after his father's death and asks me to go to a nunnery if I cannot control my desires and then I drown myself)
— an*m🦋 (@discoursediwane) June 10, 2021
Dating apps also might be preferable to being stalked like Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (I'm a ballet dancer at the paris opera house, he whispers at me through my mirror)
— same old ghost 🍂 (@sameoldghost) June 9, 2021
You can always count on Jane Austen Twitter to show up for a good meme.
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he loves me most ardently, i could never be prevailed upon to marry him)
— Lane (@lanewriteswords) June 10, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he refuses to dance with anyone and tells his friend i’m not handsome enough to tempt him)
— M 🌙 (@m_bee4) June 10, 2021
Deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (we fall in love, she breaks our engagement, I make a career and a fortune, meet her again (I’m still sulking after 8+ years, mind you), then one day send her the most beautiful love letter ever written) pic.twitter.com/mx5FQiny9p
— The League of Rupert Penry-Jones Fans (@LeagueOfRPJFans) June 10, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way ( my sister marries his brother so he comes over all the time. also he's my neighbor and if he loved me less he might be able to talk about it more. )
— quinboot (@i_quinboot) June 10, 2021
And some mythology deep cuts appeared on Twitter as well!
deleting my dating apps because I want to find someone the old fashioned way (a goddess awards me the hottest man alive in return for a golden apple)
— Liv ✨🏛✨ Myths, Baby! (@mythsbaby) June 9, 2021
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (shipwrecked on an island, I confront her and demand she turns my pigs back into men)
— Flint Dibble 🍖🏺📖 (@FlintDibble) June 9, 2021
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way pic.twitter.com/4kj60u7E5S
— Anthony (@noluckst2) June 9, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (getting struck by Cupid's arrow to fall in love with a one-dimensional himbo only to die on a funeral pyre)
— Kim Parkes 🏛🏺🏛 (@BerleyParkes) June 9, 2021
A Percy Jackson mention for a more modern take on Greek mythology!
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (at a summer camp, he gets framed for stealing a lightning bolt, we go on quests together, he holds the sky for me, i take a knife for him, we kiss underwater)
— Morgan Pirozzi (@morganpirozzi) June 10, 2021
The Brontë sisters’ classic novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were referenced.
Deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (she doesn't think me handsome, I call her witch but we eventually fall and love and marry if we can get rid of my mentally ill wife who I locked in the attic) pic.twitter.com/ZJ1AH6J54s
— Toby Stephens News (@tobysnews) June 10, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he's adopted into our family, he and I become inseparable, and when I marry someone else, he spite marries my SIL, then I die horribly in childbirth and he antagonizes my remaining family until he dies) https://t.co/BHtHf9IrK8
— R.B. Thorne (@ThornsAbound) June 10, 2021
Also a Gatsby mention for another classic problematic romance.
Deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old-fashioned way (he throws giant parties for me in hopes I'll show up and stares at a green light on a far away dock).
— Jess Lulka (she/her/hers) (@jlulks) June 10, 2021
Of course, Bridgerton fans made an appearance (if you know, you know…and you’re very excited for the upcoming season two).
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (we are introduced to each other by my brother and proceed to bicker to avoid the sexual tension until a bee stings her bosom and i am forced to suck the venom out because of my irrational fear of death)
— out of context Bridgerton (@NoContxtBee) June 9, 2021
We all knew Twilight wasn’t going to be left out.
Deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he thinks i smell bad in biology class and tries to switch to another science)
— sierra elmore (@SierraWritesYA) June 11, 2021
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (i move north because my mom wants to travel w her bf and a creepy quiet guy gags when i sit next to him in biology)
— 🌈gogo boots gay jesus🌈 (@smiggiekayak) June 9, 2021
For a deeper cut literary vampire reference.
Deleting my dating apps bc I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (a carriage accident outside our home brings a mysterious girl into my family’s care, her name is Carmilla and she soon begins to have a strange hold on me)
— Addison Peacock (@Addison_Peacock) June 11, 2021
Seriously, finding love like Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones might be easier.
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he hires me as his cleaning lady in a moving castle and proceeds to produce green slime when i accidentally muck up his hair dye) https://t.co/Udgvpo2vCQ
— Ashley Poston (@ashposton) June 10, 2021
And who wouldn’t rather fall in love through a scavenger hunt through the Strand bookstore, like Dash and Lily?
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (creating a book of clues and challenges and putting it in a book store for someone to find during the holidays)
— Nakia Stephens 🗣 (@nsteps_) June 9, 2021
Adam Silvera joined the meme with a reference to his own (heartbreaking!) YA novel They Both Die at the End.
deleting my dating apps so I can find love the old fashioned way (via the Last Friend app on the day we're both about to die)
— ADAM (@AdamSilvera) June 12, 2021
I love a good Oscar Wilde reference!
deleting my dating apps because i want to meet someone the old fashioned way (he is my brother's friend, a feudal lord who leads a double life in london to escape his boring country life and goes by the pseudonym Earnest)
— ritz ☭ (@ahsitir) June 10, 2021
And this call back to Mr. Hoppy and Mrs. Silver in Esio Trot (a favorite children’s book of mine) really warmed my heart.
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (i complain that my tortoise isn’t growing enough and you create a plan to secretly replace it with multiple, bigger tortoises, one after the other, over an eight week period to win me over)
— angbeen / انگبین 🇵🇸 (@nahoosat) June 10, 2021
Hope these “deleting my dating apps” memes brought a chuckle to your day. And good luck to all the readers who are looking for love either on dating apps or in literature!