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Deleting My Dating Apps Because I Want to Meet Someone the Old Fashioned Way (A Literary Roundup)

The best bookish references in the popular Twitter meme "deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way"

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Alison Doherty

Senior Contributor

Alison 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.

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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.

Then a tweet about Romeo and Juliet really blew the meme up.

And someone decided to bring Hamlet into it as well (not Shakespeare’s most romantic play…alas).

Dating apps also might be preferable to being stalked like Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.

https://twitter.com/sameoldghost/status/1402718302040899589

You can always count on Jane Austen Twitter to show up for a good meme.

https://twitter.com/lanewriteswords/status/1403003782221369364
https://twitter.com/LeagueOfRPJFans/status/1403017430088273921

And some mythology deep cuts appeared on Twitter as well!

https://twitter.com/BerleyParkes/status/1402685788270346240

A Percy Jackson mention for a more modern take on Greek mythology!

The Brontë sisters’ classic novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were referenced.

https://twitter.com/tobysnews/status/1402979840891011074

Also a Gatsby mention for another classic problematic romance.

Of course, Bridgerton fans made an appearance (if you know, you know…and you’re very excited for the upcoming season two).

We all knew Twilight wasn’t going to be left out.

https://twitter.com/SierraWritesYA/status/1403188405106790407
https://twitter.com/smiggiekayak/status/1402771754712453124

For a deeper cut literary vampire reference.

Seriously, finding love like Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones might be easier.

https://twitter.com/ashposton/status/1402846926714937351

And who wouldn’t rather fall in love through a scavenger hunt through the Strand bookstore, like Dash and Lily?

Adam Silvera joined the meme with a reference to his own (heartbreaking!) YA novel They Both Die at the End.

I love a good Oscar Wilde reference!

https://twitter.com/ahsitir/status/1402978783481581575

And this call back to Mr. Hoppy and Mrs. Silver in Esio Trot (a favorite children’s book of mine) really warmed my heart.

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!