A recent viral post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has ignited a fierce debate about rejection, politeness, and the thin skin of the modern dater. The incident began when a woman shared a screenshot of a text she received from a man she had met on the dating app Hinge.
The Text That Divided the Internet
After two weeks of messaging and a single first date, the man sent a message explaining his position. The text, sent on Sunday 30 November 2025, stated he wasn't ready to date. He was careful to assure her, "No, you didn't do anything wrong," and clarified, "I realised I'm not in a place where I want to date right now." He paraphrased classic let-down lines, noting that she was a "genuinely great person" but that "dating just isn't on my list of things to do rn."
Instead of accepting the message privately, the woman shared the screenshot with her followers, captioning it, "we met on HINGE btw." The post quickly went viral, amassing more than six million views and thousands of replies from people taking sides.
A Clash of Perspectives
The reaction was sharply divided. Many users, particularly women with similar experiences on dating apps, expressed fury. One user questioned, "Literally, then why go on a date then if dating was not something he wanted to do rn." Another vented, "Hinge men are all the same... They're always emotionally off or are not ready to date lmao, they just want to get relationship privileges without being official."
However, the majority of respondents disagreed with the original poster. They argued that the message was a reasonable, rational, and kindly worded rejection. One person commented, "Completely reasonable," while another added, "This is literally just a nice way to reject a person, which is common knowledge. Ppl are allowed to reject you. If you can't handle rejection, then don't date."
The Deeper Problem with Rejection
This public spat highlights a broader issue: our collective inability to handle being told 'no'. The author of the original article, Olivia Petter, reflects on her own difficult history with rejection, from a devastating voicemail breakup at age 13 to the subtle resentments of adult life.
She concedes that the viral text was a polite and soft let-down, far preferable to being told one is unattractive or uninteresting. Yet, she admits that even these thoughtful rejections can feel condescending and spark anger.
The root cause, she suggests, may lie in our increasingly siloed lives. Dating apps and social media algorithms create cultural echo chambers that constantly reinforce our own ideologies and interests. We become the stars of our own shows, making any form of rejection feel like a personal and profound attack.
Ultimately, the piece concludes that many people, especially women, may not have mastered handling rejection but have instead perfected the art of concealing the rage and resentment that simmers beneath a people-pleasing surface. The viral text didn't just reveal one person's frustration; it lifted the lid on a widespread, hidden emotional struggle.
