The 15 Greatest Dating Stories We Published in 2023

The theme of dating and relationships is something we’ll be eternally exploring on VICE, because with each passing year the act of finding, falling in and staying in love becomes increasingly complex.

For those on the dating scene, the complete consolidation of chance meetings and IRL flirting into algorithmic dating apps has helped a few find soulmates but overwhelmed others with a tiring and arduous quest for connection. While those in relationships continue to face the perennial issues that surface in any long term relationship: How do you keep the spark alive? What happens when someone cheats? And what should you do when something fundamental about your partner changes?

This year we’ve published a wide range of stories that answer all of these questions and more. Below – and in no particular order – we’ve listed what we think are the 15 best VICE articles on the theme of dating and relationships. So let’s start opening some tabs and get that laptop cooling fan purring like a cat.

The “alpha male” influencer’s deeply misogynistic messaging is parroted on school grounds, in workplaces and even within relationships, despite his recent arrest and social media ban. VICE spoke to the women whose relationships collapsed after their boyfriends “fell down the Tate pipeline.”

“I have something to confess,” writes Ryan S. Gladwin, “I found the safest way to cheat on my girlfriend. Usually, infidelity requires covering up hickeys, renaming your new girl as ‘GP Surgery’ in your contacts, and making up new excuses to explain why you’re late from work. In my case, all I had to do was download an app.”

Across the spectrum of singles, people are feeling increasingly dejected and jaded by the draining pursuit of love. We spoke to singletons, sociologists and therapists about why that might be.

In private Facebook groups all across the world, millions of women are discussing the red flags of men they’re dating. Writer Emilie Lavinia tells the story of how these groups became so popular and why they have a dark side.

As Magdalene Taylor writes, you can’t escape the age gap discourse anymore. Each week, a fresh romance makes headlines involving a man in his late 30s or 40s and a woman in her early 20s. But, as she warns, it only distorts reality to compare your relationships to celebrities.

A new survey says around half of women no longer drink on first dates. We met the sober romantics swapping lagers for lattes to ask if doing dry dating actually does make for better connections.

The latest trend in male beauty has nothing to do with six-packs and everything to do with looking like a sexy cheetah. But, as writer Ruchira Sharma explores, “hunter eyes” aren’t a new concept.

Bridging the generational divide can be tough when one of you remembers LimeWire and the other one doesn’t know what an MP3 is. Writer Daisy Jones reports on how relationships go when millennials and zoomers come together.

Hustle culture has finally hit dating. From love surveys to co-working coffee dates, we’re screening potential lovers with streamlined efficiency. Writer Chanté Joseph meets the people who are no longer in the business of dilly-dallying around to find love.

“My first reaction wasn’t upset, genuinely,” says Lauren. “I was just like ‘what the fuck? How did this person even find me?” Writer Ruchira Sharma interviews the people who went on the internet looking for love, but saw their profiles turned into online jokes.

According to a poll done by Tinder, 69 percent of Gen Z believe they’re going to refresh dating standards for the future. Writer Heloise Shadbolt decided to ask a load of Gen Zs for their pioneering advice on very 30-something dating predicaments.

Your partner goes out without you, meets someone, and sleeps with them. Seems like a pretty clear cut case of cheating, right? But, what if it was a momentary snog before their brain kicked into action? Or an almost kiss? What about situations that are, well, a bit more blurry? Writer Eloise Hendy digs into the grey zones of infidelity.

Sometimes people change their minds about what they want from a relationship – and that’s perfectly OK. But what happens when one or both parties want to turn back the clock on their non-monogamous status? Jess Thomson investigates.

Society still shames people for long-term “singledom”, making people who have found themselves without a romantic partner for a long time feel like it’s something to hide. To try and counter this, VICE spoke to people who have been single for years about their experience, and how society regards the “chronically single”.

According to research, being an attractive man improves your socioeconomic position more than being a good-looking woman. But why trust rigorous research when you can simply go and find very attractive men to interrogate?