Man Builds Own Dating Website After Tinder Fails

“I’m looking for one person, not hundreds. My mum and dad have been happily married since 1978, and I’d love to build something just as lasting. At 42, I’d quite like to get started,” he said.

What he says is wrong with dating apps

Poninski’s frustration is less about one bad app and more about the machinery of online dating. Apps can make it feel as if everyone is available and no one is really present, which is not exactly a romantic foundation.

“Modern dating feels strange. Dating apps or using Instagram can be exhausting,” he said.

That is why his site tries to slow things down. Instead of relying on a swipe, a quick photo, or a half-finished chat, Poninski said he wanted to give people a fuller sense of who he is before they decide whether to make contact.

“I wanted to create something that let people get to know the real me first,” he added. “It might be a terrible idea. It might be brilliant. Either way, it’ll make a better story than another evening spent swiping.”

There is a certain logic to it. If modern dating already asks people to market themselves, Poninski has simply built the showroom. Subtle, no. Clear, yes.

He is not the first to get creative about dating

Poninski’s approach has gone viral partly because it feels unusual, but he is not the only person trying to escape the dating app loop.

In California, Lisa Catalano drew attention with the MarryLisa campaign, advertising her single status on highway billboards and taxis across San Francisco. The campaign reportedly brought in thousands of applications from would-be dates.

Poninski’s version is quieter, though still public enough to make strangers curious. Instead of plastering his romantic availability across traffic, he has built a page, added details about himself, and let his mother’s approval do some of the heavy lifting.

Whether it leads to the lasting relationship he wants is anyone’s guess. But in a dating culture that often rewards speed, vagueness, and emotional endurance tests, his pitch is at least direct: here is who I am, here is what I want, and here is my mum’s supporting evidence.