{"id":354,"date":"2024-04-16T17:10:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T17:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/ideation-e-innamoramento-come-evolvono-le-idee\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T10:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T10:23:44","slug":"ideation-e-innamoramento-come-evolvono-le-idee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silviamanduchi.com\/en\/ideation-e-innamoramento-come-evolvono-le-idee\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideation and Falling in Love: How Ideas Evolve"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not exactly sure how this week\u2019s article came to be, but one thing is certain: it took me about <\/span>ten thousand mental detours<\/b> to get here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m reflecting on the <\/span>life, death, and (possible future?) resurrection<\/b> of dating apps. Silvia Castrogiovanni suggested I start by talking about the <\/span>creative phase<\/b> that shapes new projects\u2014the so-called <\/span>ideation<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity is essential in many things\u2014first and foremost in bed, or so they say. But that\u2019s not the metaphor I\u2019ll be following today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lacan famously said that <\/span>\u201cthe sexual relationship does not exist.\u201d<\/b> Freud, on the other hand, argued that a sexual relationship always involves <\/span>four individuals<\/b>. These are some of the most intriguing thoughts in psychoanalysis, and they fascinate me. But, again\u2014I won\u2019t go down that rabbit hole today. Maybe another time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Love as a Social Phenomenon (and the Dating App Theory)<\/b><\/p>\n

Taking a step back into common wisdom, we often hear that love and sex must be nurtured, that relationships require effort, and that\u2014despite all this\u2014they sometimes <\/span>just don\u2019t work out<\/b>. Some couples break up, others stay together forever, and others still change partners along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

At some point, we realize that <\/span>every love story leaves something behind, shaping our growth<\/b>. Communication tools play a fundamental role in this process\u2014whether it\u2019s <\/span>letters, texts, or voice notes<\/b>. Words are the historical instruments of love, though they\u2019re <\/span>never quite enough<\/b> to express such a complex feeling. And sometimes, saying nothing at all is better.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another key factor\u2014one that the <\/span>Netflix series Bridgerton<\/b> teaches us well: the <\/span>social<\/b> aspect of love.<\/span><\/p>\n

I first understood this one afternoon in the mountains, talking to my friend Ilaria. As I poured my heart out\u2014half in tears\u2014about my unrequited crush on someone <\/span>way out of my league<\/span><\/i> (or maybe I was out of theirs, depending on the perspective), she looked at me and said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSilvia, have you ever considered that love is also a social phenomenon?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That statement <\/span>stunned me<\/b>. I had never thought about it that way before\u2014but it\u2019s absolutely true. And this realization leads me straight to my theory on <\/span>dating apps<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rise (and Fall?) of Dating Apps<\/b><\/p>\n

In our hyper-connected world\u2014where <\/span>our iPhones have become an extension of our arms<\/b>\u2014many people experience love and relationships through platforms that, back in 2014, were just <\/span>emerging startups<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest\u2014it\u2019s been ten years now. And these platforms have been <\/span>heavily criticized<\/b> for failing to evolve, becoming outdated relics of the digital dating era.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always found dating apps <\/span>intellectually fascinating<\/b>, though I personally have a strong aversion to using them. They\u2019ve always felt like a <\/span>supermarket of people<\/b> to me. But my curiosity peaked when I discovered <\/span>Whitney Wolfe Herd<\/b>, who founded <\/span>Bumble<\/b> after <\/span>suing her former company, Tinder<\/b>, for sexual discrimination and harassment. She won a <\/span>$1 million settlement<\/b> and then built something entirely new.<\/span><\/p>\n

That, to me, was <\/span>a personal revolution\u2014a reinvention driven by redemption<\/b>. And when I saw the <\/span>video of her signing Bumble\u2019s IPO while holding her baby<\/b>, I was completely won over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will Survive the Dating App Crisis?<\/b><\/p>\n

Today, however, dating apps are going through <\/span>a rough patch<\/b>\u2014declining revenues, plummeting valuations, and a rising number of users abandoning ship. It\u2019s interesting to observe the <\/span>two distinct strategies<\/b> that <\/span>Tinder and Bumble<\/b> are adopting to counter this crisis:<\/span><\/p>\n