Last year, I started hosting monthly house parties. When I saw two friends get on really well, I set them up on a date. “You two should go out sometime,” I casually said. “I think you’d have a lot in common.” 

Turns out, they did. 

So far, there have been three dates among people who met at my house parties. Little did I know, my unintentional matchmaking efforts may have a higher success rate than dating apps. 

In my view, one sad side effect of the rise of dating apps has been a noticeable decline in matchmaking. Whatever happened to setting friends up on a blind date? Or even just recommending that two people you love give it a shot of finding love themselves? 

And in our modern moment of isolation, polarization, and loneliness, it is clear to me that now is a crucial time for us to bring back matchmaking for our friends. When one of my friends called me after her date to get more insight about my other friend, I was able to answer all her concerns. That couldn’t have happened if she had met a stranger on a dating app.

Dating apps have made meeting someone feel increasingly detached from the people and communities we already belong to. We swipe through strangers based on a handful of photographs and prompts, often with very little context about who they are beyond what they have chosen to present.

A friend, on the other hand, can tell you things an algorithm never could: what someone is actually like, how they treat people, whether........

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