‘Go and talk to strangers – it’s fun’: why speed dating is having a moment

Harriet Cronley, the host of Dear Pluto, which runs queer and straight speed dating nights in Sydney and Melbourne. The events, which Cronley describes as ‘a well set-up environment to stimulate future love’, are marketed towards people disaffected by dating apps. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Lilian no longer knows how many times she’s deleted all the dating apps from her phone. Somehow, she always reinstalls them.

While she says she hates “the apps”, as they are now known (begrudgingly or affectionately, depending on your success), going clubbing or hanging around at a pub is “not where you meet people”.

Lilian says dating apps have made romance feel like another chore to manage. In place of locked eyes and butterflies there’s monotonous swiping, weighing up someone’s potential from a few judiciously selected snapshots.