A vast majority of Gen Z—79%—feel emotionally, mentally, or physically exhausted from using dating apps, according to a survey from Forbes Health this year. ‘Dating app fatigue’ is a vicious cycle: Hopeful romantics rely on their phones to help them find love, but they’re also burned out by the experience. The loneliness epidemic —which technology helped fuel and is also trying to solve—is at the top of Hinge CMO Jackie Jantos’s mind.
She recognizes that her core Gen Z audience lacks authentic connections but knows they define community as engaging in person with people with similar interests and values. She is focusing the marketing effort on pushing users toward connection and investing in solving the loneliness epidemic through social impact outside of the app itself. “We know that you can’t date well if you’re not feeling well, so we started digging into what was happening there,” she says.
Fortune virtually sat down with Jantos to learn more about Hinge’s “One More Hour” initiative and the app’s role in addressing the loneliness epidemic. The interview has been edited for clarity when necessary. Fortune: What is your research and data showing us about dating, loneliness, and Gen Z today? Jackie Jantos: Our research found that over 80% of Gen Z feel lonely .
There are a variety of places they turn when they’re feeling this way, from social media to online entertainment. And in reality, they are spending 1,000 fewer hours in person. For us.