I think back to freshman year, when my friends and I would cram onto a lumpy dorm-issue twin bed and huddle around one phone, collectively cringing as we swiped through Hinge.
That was my first foray into dating apps. It took me a weekand a handful of dead-end chatsbefore I deleted it.
As it turns out, Im far from alone.
According to mobile app analytics company AppsFlyer, 65% of dating apps downloaded in 2024 were deleted within a month. This year, that number has climbed to 69%, AppsFlyer told Fast Company.
During the pandemic, dating apps were a lifeline. Gen Z spent much of their formative yearshigh school and early collegeon Zoom, and online dating was a natural extension of a life in lockdown.
Now, many young people want their love lives off-screen again.
Wendy Walsh, the in-house dating and relationship expert for DatingAdvice.com and a psychology professor at California State University Channel Islands, explains that this generation lost at least two years of social learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theyre often terrified of talking on the phone or meeting in person, and dating appsdesigned to connect strangersessentially translate to their worst fear.
Yet younger adults continue to lead the way in online dating. According to Pew Research data from 2023, 53% of those younger than 30 have used a dating site or app, compared with 37% of adults ages 30 to 49, 20% of those 50 to 64, and 13% of adults 65 and older.
Digital natives are swiping left on dating apps
Last week, I conducted an informal poll of six Syracuse University students in their 20s who requested anonymitylargely because, as I noticed, they seemed embarrassed to be on dating apps in the first place.
When I asked them about their experiences more broadly, disappointment came through. One pointed out that conversations on the apps rarely progressed beyond the texting stage. Another said they preferred meeting people in person and mostly used the apps for casual flings.
Dating coach Grace Lee explained that college students often feel self-conscious about these platforms.
If you have any kind of social life, youre not supposed to need one,” she says, adding that college life comes with high expectations to be out and about, which dilates the feeling that theres something wrong with you if you rely on a dating app.
Most students I talked to seemed reluctant to discuss how often they engaged with the apps, while those who admitted to regular use did so with visible mortification.
This frustration is far from isolated. A 2024 Forbes Health survey found that 79% of Gen Z users experience some degree of fatigue with dating apps like Hinge, Tinder, and Bumbletheyre investing tons of time without finding genuine connections.
Walsh says the burnout comes from the paradox of choice. Having too many options leads the brain to value each one less. People swipe endlessly, believing something better is always one swipe away, which leaves them stuck in an algorithmic loophole.
And the numbers back it up: A nationwide Kinsey Institute and DatingAdvice.com survey found that most Gen Zers would rather meet someone offline, with 90.24% of respondents saying they prefer social gatherings, bookstores, classes, and clubs.
With a focus on self-care and authenticity, this generation feels that apps just dont deliver the kind of natural, low-effort spark theyre looking for.
Its a flop era for online dating
Dating app burnout isnt just a Gen Z thingthe “swiping fatigue” is hitting the whole online dating scene.
Match Groups recent financial results underline the shift. The parent company of Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish posted a fourth-quarter revenue forecast below expectations, signaling trouble converting casual users into paid subscribers.
The company’s latest quarterly numbers show revenue at $914.3 million, up 2% compared with the same period last year, while “payers” declined by 5%.
Match Group stock (Nasdaq: MTCH) has struggled this year. As of Friday, it’s down roughly 1.11% year to date, compared with the Nasdaq composite index’s growth of more than 15% during the same period.
Tinder, once the company’s crown jewel, is wobbling: Revenue slid 3% year over year, and the number of paying users dropped by 7%, to 9.3 million.
Half of Tinders monthly active users are Gen Zers, but with subscribers declining, the company is scrambling to find new ways to keep younger users engaged.
Students I spoke with had similar thoughts on Tinder: “[Its more for] hookup culturefine for freshman year, but now Im looking for something more serious.”
Match Group’s competitor Bumble isnt faring any better, reporting a 10% revenue decline and laying off 30% of its staff earlier this year.
And yet, against all odds, Hinge is holding on tight. Gen Z accounts for 56% of its user base, and the app reported a 17% increase in paying users. Strong prompts and a focus on intentional dating seem to be working.
As Match Group COO Spencer Rascoff echoed at the Goldman Sachs conference: Theres this misconception that Gen Z doesnt use dating apps. They do. Just look at Hinge.
Is betting on AI the right move?
New nonautomated modes, like Tinder’s Double Date and College Mode, are resonatingespecially with younger users.
Double Date has taken off: 92% of its users are under 30, and women who pair up are three times more likely to send a “like” and four times more likely to match than when swiping solo, while College Mode is now used by 1 in 4 eligible student users.
Dating companies are now betting that AI features will lure Gen Z backbut theres a catch: Gen Z is actually mor uncomfortable with AI than older generations.
Several students I spoke with expressed discomfort with AI, noting that when its imposed in platforms, it feels unnatural and undermines the sense of authenticity.
Social psychologist Justin Lehmiller, senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, told Fast Company that his research shows most single adults dont want AI anywhere near their intimate lives.
Thats the potential pitfall for some apps,” Lehmiller says. “[If] they’re incorporating more of this technology that a lot of people don’t really trust, is that going to draw more folks in, or is it just going to keep pushing them away?
A Bloomberg survey mirrors this sentiment, revealing that Gen Z is hesitant about AI-generated bios or messages and favors authenticity.
How the big players are trying to win over Gen Z
Tinder appears to recognize the tension surrounding high-tech features. In a statement to Fast Company, the company said its shifting toward low-pressure, authentic experiences, and moving away from transactional connections.
The app uses AI for security, photo selection, and safety promptswithout turning conversations into my bot texting your bot, as Match Group leaders emphasize.
Similarly, Bumble CTO Vivek Sagi stated, We want to harness the power of AI. Our goal is not to replace love or dating with technology; its to make human connection better and more compatible.
Hinge is also leaning into AI, focusing on tools that help users without impersonating them. This includes features like prompt feedback, a built-in AI tool called “Top Photo,” and the Are You Sure? message filter.
And the subtlety seems to be working. The students I spoke with didnt even realize AI was involved in their daily swiping, and when I pointed it out, one gasped: I didnt put two and two together!
Hinge CEO Justin McLeod recently explained that generative AI is meant to supportnot replacepeople. Authenticity deeply matters, he said.
And Gen Z seems to agree.
This weekend, “Remove the Regime” protests in the capital are demanding an end to the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., as well as President Donald Trump’s impeachment, calling the deployment an overreach of presidential powers and politically motivated.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the troops’ deployment in D.C. is “unlawful.” This follows a similar ruling from a Tennessee state judge.
Trump has also deployed National Guard troops to a number of other American cities, including: Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Chicagoall cities run by Democrats, under the pretense of crime reduction.
Here’s what to know about the protests.
What, where and when is the ‘Remove the Regime’ protest?
On Saturday, November 22, organizers will hold a peaceful protest in Washington, D.C. calling for an end to this administration, including Trump’s impeachment and removal from office.
The main rally and march takes place starts at the Lincoln Memorial at noon with speakers, and a musical performance from The Dropkick Murphys.
A ticketed fundraiser “One Cause, Four Bands at 7:00 p.m. will wrap up the event with a concert from musicians Earth to Eve, Gwen Levey & the Breakdown, Allstrike & Freedom Futures Collective.
The day before, on Friday, November 21, the group is also holding a Veterans Rally at 2:00 p.m. and a Comedy Church standup-comedy fundraiser at 7:30 p.m.
“We will have fun, but this is not for fun,” the “Remove the Regime” website says. “We intend to change the trajectory in this country and the conversation around the world.”
Saturday’s protest, follows the last No Kings protests, which drew an estimated 7 million people in all 50 states, as well as a number of other nationwide protests this year, including Hands Off” and May Day gatherings in which Americans across red and blue states gathered to voice their concerns with the current state of U.S. democracy.
Unlike those previous protests, “Remove the Regime” is only taking place in Washington, D.C. and focuses on what’s happening in Trump’s own backyard.
Who are the organizers behind the ‘Remove the Regime’ protest?
The Removal Coalition is made up of nearly two dozen organizations, including: Indivisible, 50501, Citizen’s Impeachment, Gaslit Nation, Flare, Remember Your Oath, and Fourteenth Now.
New research has found that AI-powered content moderation systems from Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek dont always come to the same conclusions about bad language on the internet.
President Donald Trump is considering pressuring states to stop regulating artificial intelligence in a draft executive order obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, as some in Congress also consider whether to temporarily block states from regulating AI.
Trump and some Republicans argue that the limited regulations already enacted by states, and others that might follow, will dampen innovation and growth for the technology.
Critics from both political partiesas well as civil liberties and consumer rights groupsworry that banning state regulation would amount to a favor for big AI companies that enjoy little to no oversight.
While the draft executive order could change, heres what to know about states’ AI regulations and what Trump is proposing.
What state-level regulations exist and why
Four statesCalifornia, Colorado, Texas, and Utahhave passed laws that set some rules for AI across the private sector, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Those laws include limiting the collection of certain personal information and requiring more transparency from companies.
The laws are in response to AI that already pervades everyday life. The technology helps make consequential decisions for Americans, including who gets a job interview, an apartment lease, a home loan, and even certain medical care. But research has shown that it can make mistakes in those decisions, including by prioritizing a particular gender or race.
Its not a matter of AI makes mistakes and humans never do, said Calli Schroeder, director of the AI & Human Rights Program at the public interest group EPIC.
With a human, I can say, Hey, explain, how did you come to that conclusion? What factors did you consider? she continued. With an AI, I cant ask any of that, and I cant find that out. And frankly, half the time the programmers of the AI couldnt answer that question.”
States’ more ambitious AI regulation proposals require private companies to provide transparency and assess the possible risks of discrimination from their AI programs.
Beyond those more sweeping rules, many states have regulated parts of AI: barring the use of deepfakes in elections and to create nonconsensual porn, for example, or putting rules in place around the government’s own use of AI.
What Trump and some Republicans want to do
The draft executive order would direct federal agencies to identify burdensome state AI regulations and pressure states to not enact them, including by withholding federal funding or challenging the state laws in court.
It would also begin a process to develop a lighter-touch regulatory framework for the whole country that would override state AI laws.
Trump’s argument is that the patchwork of regulations across 50 states impedes AI companies’ growth, and allows China to catch up to the U.S. in the AI race. The president has also said state regulations are producing Woke AI.
The draft executive order that was leaked could change and should not be taken as final, said a senior Trump administration official who requested anonymity to describe internal White House discussions.
The official said the tentative plan is for Trump to sign the order Friday.
Separately, House Republican leadership is already discussing a proposal to temporarily block states from regulating AI, the chamber’s majority leader, Steve Scalise, told Punchbowl News this week.
It’s yet unclear what that proposal would look like, or which AI regulations it would override.
TechNet, which advocates for tech companies including Google and Amazon, has previously argued that pausing state regulations would benefit smaller AI companies still getting on their feet and allow time for lawmakers to develop a country-wide regulatory framework that balances innovation with accountability.
Why attempts at federal regulation have failed
Some Republicans in Congress have previously tried and failed to ban states from regulating AI.
Part of the challenge is that opposition is coming from their party’s own ranks.
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, said a federal law barring state regulation of AI was Not acceptable in a post on X this week.
DeSantis argued that the move would be a subsidy to Big Tech and would stop states from protecting against a list of things, including predatory applications that target children and online censorship of political speech.
A federal ban on states regulating AI is also unpopular, said Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the ACLUs National Political Advocacy Department.
The American people do not want AI to be discriminatory, to be unsafe, to be hallucinatory, Venzke said. So I dont think anyone is interested in winning the AI race if it means AI that is not trustworthy.
By Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press
Its a tough time to be looking for a job.
Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a no-hire, no fire standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up raising worker anxieties across sectors.
Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.
Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And the record 43-day government shutdown also left many to work without paychecks.
The impasse put key economic data on hold, too. In a delayed report released Thursday, the Labor Department said U.S. employers added a surprising 119,000 jobs in September. But unemployment rose to 4.4% and other troubling details emerged, including revisions showing the economy actually lost 4,000 jobs in August. Theres also growing gender and racial disparities. The National Womens Law Center notes women only accounted for 21,000 of Septembers added jobs and that Black women over the age of 20, in particular, saw unemployment climb to 7.5% for the month.
The shutdown has left holes in more recent hiring numbers. The government says it wont release a full jobs report for October.
Here are some of the largest job cuts announced recently:
Verizon
In November, Verizon began laying off more than 13,000 employees. In a staff memo announcing the cuts, CEO Dan Schulman said that the telecommunications giant needed to simplify operations and reorient the entire company.
General Motors
General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio in late October, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles. Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for temporary layoffs” at the start of next year.
Paramount
In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount plans to lay off about 2,000 employees about 10% of its workforce. Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs in late October, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In November, Paramount also announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions as part of divestitures of Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. And the company said another 600 employees had chosen voluntary severance packages as part of a coming push to return to the office full-time.
Amazon
Amazon said last month that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.
UPS
United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs. UPS also closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.
Target
Target in October moved to eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally. The retailer said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts.
Nestlé
In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance amid headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years.
Lufthansa Group
In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.
Novo ordisk
Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce. The company which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring, as it works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.
ConocoPhillips
Oil giant ConocoPhillips announced plans in September to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs. Between 2,600 and 3,250 workers were expected to be impacted, with most layoffs set to take place before the end of 2025.
Intel
Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business. In July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 core workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. Thats down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.
Microsoft
In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years. The company has cited organizational changes, but the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.
Procter & Gamble
In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the companys global workforce. The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring also arriving amid tariff pressures.
Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP business writer
The controversy over Apple removing ICE tracking apps from its App Store isnt over.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights group, has filed suit to compel the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to release documentation of their communications with Apple and other tech platforms that led to the app removals.
It began in October when Apple first removed an app called ICEBlock, which allows users to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in their area. Attorney General Pam Bondi took credit for the takedown, telling reporters, We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Storeand Apple did so. The Attorney Generals office claimed the apps presented safety risks for ICE agents.
In the days that followed, Apple removed several other similar apps, explaining that they could potentially be used to target law enforcement officials. The company says the apps violate section 1.1.1 of its app store guidelines, which prohibits [d]efamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate or place a targeted individual or group in harms way.
Apple didnt immediately respond to a request for additional information.
And it wasn’t just Apple. Meta removed a Facebook group with 80,000 members called ICE Sighting-Chicagoland at the request (or demand) of the government. Chicago residents had been using the apps to warn neighbors when the masked federal agents were near area schools, grocery stores, and other community locations.
Google removed an ICE tracking app called Red Dot from its Google Play store, saying the app violated its policy against apps that share the location of what it describes as a vulnerable group.
Bondi vowed to continue engaging tech companies on the issue. But how the government engages matters, explains Mario Trujillo, one of the EFF attorneys who filed the lawsuit.
This has a lot of first amendment issues, and there’s this narrow line between permissible government persuasion and then impermissible unconstitutional coercion, Trujillo says. To really understand whether or not the government violated the first amendment, you really have to analyze the actual conversations.
Trujillo says the language and tone used by the government also matters. Was there an implicit threat or the threat of consequences if they didn’t do something?.
The EFF says people have a protected First Amendment right to document and share information about law enforcement activities performed in public. If government officials coerce third parties into suppressing protected activity, the group says, this can be unconstitutional, as the government cannot do indirectly what it is barred from doing directly.
In October, the EFF submitted a Freedom of Information Act request with the DOJ, the DHS agencies (including ICE) asking for the communications with the tech companies. None of the agencies responded, so EFF filed suit to compel the release of the records, Trujillo says.
Trujillo adds that its likely that other advocacy groups or media outlets have submitted similar FOIAs. Whoever succeeds in getting the communication records will make them public. If the communications reveal that the government coerced or threatened the tech companies, the stage may be set for a First Amendment lawsuit against the government.
The developer of the ICEBlock app, Joshua Aaron, believes the removal of his app is a violation of his First Amendment rights, and intends to fight Apples decision in court. Attempts to contact Aaron werent immediately successful.
The app was thoroughly vetted for three weeks by Apples legal and senior officials before approval, Aaron told Decrypt. Its been fine all this time. For them to do it now, thats why I say Im so disappointed.
The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.
The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.
Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Bidens focus on slowing climate change to pursue what the Republican calls U.S. energy dominance in the global market. Trump, who recently called climate change the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, created a National Energy Dominance Council and directed it to move quickly to drive up already record-high U.S. energy production, particularly fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.
Meanwhile, Trumps administration has blocked renewable energy sources such as offshore wind and canceled billions of dollars in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects across the country.
The drilling proposal drew bipartisan pushback in Florida, where a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Trump administration should reconsider and Republican Sen. Rick Scott said the states coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic, called the administrations plan idiotic.
Tourism and access to clean beaches are key parts of the economy in both states.
Plans to allow drilling off California, Alaska and Florida’s coast
The administrations plan proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 in areas along the California coast.
It also calls for new drilling off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico at least 100 miles from shore. Drilling leases would be sold in the newly designated South-Central Gulf region, adjacent to the central Gulfs thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling platforms.
The new designation distinguishes the targeted area from the Eastern Gulf where drilling is prohibited under a moratorium Trump signed in his first term. Industry representatives said the change was aimed at addressing concerns from Florida officials who oppose drilling near their tourism-friendly coasts.
The five-year plan also would compel more than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as the High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in announcing the sales that it would take years for the oil from new leases to get to market.
By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that Americas offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come, Burgum said in a statement.
The American Petroleum Institute called the new plan a historic step toward unleashing more offshore resources. Industry groups point to Californias history as an oil-producing state and say it already has infrastructure to support more production.
Opposition from California and Florida
Scott, a Trump ally, helped persuade officials in Trump’s first term to drop a similar offshore plan in 2018 when Scott was governor. Scott and Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody introduced legislation this month to maintain the drilling moratorium from Trump’s first term.
Newsom, who often touts the states status as a global climate leader, said in response to Thursday’s announcement that California would use every tool at our disposal to protect our coastline.
California has been a leader in restricting offshore drilling since an infamous 1969 Santa Barbara spill helped spark the modern environmental movement. While no new federal leases have been offered since the mid-1980s, drilling from existing platforms continues.
Newsom expressed support for greater offshore controls after a 2021 spill off Huntington Beach and has backed a congressional effort to ban new offshore drilling on the West Coast.
A Texas-based company, with support from the Trump administration, is seeking to restart production in waters off Santa Barbara damaged by a 2015 oil spill. The administration has hailed the plan by Houston-based Sable Offshore Corp. as the kind of project Trump wants to increase U.S. energy production.
Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to reverse Bidens ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. A federal court later struck down Bidens order to withdraw 625 million acres of federal waters from oil development.
Environmental and economic concerns over oil spills
Lawmakers from California and Florida warned new offshore drilling would hurt coastal economies, jeopardize national security, ravage coastal ecosystems, and put the health and safety of millions of people at risk.
This is not just a little bit offshore drilling. This is the entire California coast, every inch of Alaska, even the eastern Gulf of Mexico, said California Rep. Jared Huffman. Basically, everywhere Big Oil has been salivating to drill for decades.
Rep. Jimmy Patronis of Florida led a group of Republican lawmakers who asked Trump in a Thursday letter to withdraw some parcels off the Florida coast from leasing. They warned that oil exploration could interfere with a training area for nearby military airbases. Allowing the parcels to go forward would have a chilling effect on the militarys ability to test new munitions, including hypersonic and counter drone weaponry, they wrote.
The state is also still recovering from the environmental and economic havoc caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spll, which fouled coasts across the Gulf, said Florida Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor.
A Santa Barbara group, the Environmental Defense Center, formed in response to the 1969 California spill, said the plan puts at risk the Santa Barbara Channel off Southern California, an important feeding ground for endangered blue, humpback, and fin whales.
There is no way to drill for oil without causing devastating impacts, said Maggie Hall, deputy chief counsel at the advocacy group. The risk is unacceptable.
Matthew Daly and Matthew Brown, Associated Press
Associated Press reporters Julie Watson, Sophie Austin, and Kate Payne contributed to this report.
POV: You have a type B coworker, TikTok creator Eric Sedeo posted last week. In the viral skit, the “coworker” rolls into the office past 10 a.m., pulling out a laptop with only 5% charge.
I went to bed at like 4 a.m. last night, he confesses. Seriously work is so hard today, he complains before taking a nap on the couch. When he is working, music is blaring and he is simultaneously on Instagram Live. Whens that big presentation? he asks. (Its today.)
If you dont have a type B coworker like this, its probably you.
Type b people EXPECT everything to work out fine for them and it always does, one commented. This is literally the person that actually gets promoted, another wrote.
On TikTok, videos on being type B are having a moment, racking up thousands of views and comments of those who can relate or identify with the chaos. Plenty also poke fun or air their frustrations with the type Bs in their lives.
The recent discourse essentially equates type A to someone who has their lives together, and type B to a more laidback go-with-the-flow personality.
Most feel an affinity one way or another, similar to the way we label ourselves as introverted or extroverted, or proudly claim INTJ or ISFP according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. These personality stamps can be helpful when explaining particular tendencies, or finding ways to leverage strengths or inhibit weaknesses, particularly in the workplace.
But what happens when you identify as a highly strung type A in the office, but off the clock your life is a shambles? Alsoever hear of an introverted extrovert, or an extroverted introvert? Because they exist.
The problem with identifying one way or another, is that personality mostly exists on a spectrum. Pigeon-holing people as either/or risks assigning them traits they might not actually have. Someone might be hardworking and organized (traits associated with type A), but simultaneously be flexible and creative (typical type B traits).
Nor is one better than the other. People tend to highlight the more flattering traits associated with each type, while overlooking the less-desirable ones.
According to 2023 research published in Nature, startups that prioritized a diverse range of personalities were more likely to succeed.
The type A/B binary long predates TikTok, of course. It was first introduced in the late 1950s by cardiologists linking personality traits in white middle-class men to heart attack risk. It is now no longer widely regarded as a scientifically validated way to understand personality, but rather a fun conversation starter or useful Hinge prompt.
Still, pop psychology remains one of the internets favorite subjects to dissect. (In case you were curious about me: type A. Introverted Extrovert. INFJ.)
Air travel is a stressful event for anyone: long waits at the airport, the ever-present threat of delayed flights, and cramped seats can easily cause temperaments to run short.
All that is made worse during the holidays, as the number of travelers soars. But what can make a flight even worse than the unavoidable unpleasantries are, simply put, travel jerks. These are travelers who are rude to one another, short-tempered with airport staff, and disrespectful to flight attendants.
Now, ahead of the holiday travel season, which kicks off next week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is launching a new campaign to inspire civility in travelers. Heres what you need to know.
Transportation Secretary urges civility in the friendly skies
On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced a new campaign titled The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You. The DOT says the campaign is designed to get the country talking about how we can all restore courtesy and class to air travel.
Announcing the new campaign, which kicks off with a 90-second YouTube video, the DOT highlighted data that it says backs up the popular perception that traveling on planes has become more unruly in recent years.
According to the agency, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has seen more than a 400% increase in in-flight outbursts since 2019. These outbursts include everything from disruptive behavior to outright violence.
The agency says that between 2020 and 2021, reports of unruly behavior rose more than six times. In 2021 alone, 20% of flight attendants experienced physical incidents, and since 2021, 13,800unruly passenger incidents have been reported.
Most recently, the DOT says, 2024 saw double the number of unruly passenger events when compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic, when traveling was decidedly less stressful.
If you want a peek at some of the worst unruly passenger incidents, the latter half of the DOT campaign video, embedded below, showcases alarming ones caught on camera.
For 2025, the FAAs data shows that there have so far been 1,431 unruly passenger reports as of November 16. About 10% of those142had investigations opened into them by authorities. They resulted in 125 enforcement actions, which have included $2.1 million in fines.
For the most recent week of November 16, the FAA says there were 1.4 unruly passengers reported for every 10,000 flights. However, while the agency notes that the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped more than 80% since early 2021 record highs, it concedes that recent increases show there remains more work to do.
DOTs advice on how to be a more civil flyer
In the DOTs civility campaign video, Transportation Secretary Duffy offered five questions people can ask themselves to determine if they are Americans reach their destinations as quickly, efficiently and comfortably as possible. Those questions include:
Are you helping a pregnant woman or the elderly with placing their bags in the overhead bin?
Are you dressing with respect?
Are you keeping control of your children and helping them through the airport?
Are you saying thank you to your flight attendants?
Are you saying please and thank you in general?
Given the latest holiday travel data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), over 6 million passengers will need to ask themselves these questions begining next week. The AAA is forecasting that the Thanksgiving holiday travel season, which runs from Tuesday, November 25 to Monday, December 1, will see 6.07 million people take to the skies.
Thats 2.1% more than the 5.94 million individuals who flew during Thanksgiving week 2024, and 14.9% more than the number of individuals who flew during the 2019 Thanksgiving travel period.
Only 776 air traffic controllers and technicians who had perfect attendance during the government shutdown will receive $10,000 bonuses while nearly 20,000 other workers will be left out, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday.
A number of controllers started calling out of work as the shutdown dragged on longer than a month and they dealt with the financial pressure of working without a paycheck. Some of them got side jobs, but others simply couldn’t afford the child care or gas they needed to work. Their absences forced delays at airports across the country and led the government to order airlines to cut some of their flights at 40 busy airports.
President Donald Trump suggested the bonuses for those who have stayed on the job in a social media post, but he also suggested that controllers who missed work should have their pay docked. FAA officials haven’t publicly announced plans to penalize controllers.
Thousands of FAA technicians also had to work during the shutdown to maintain the equipment that air traffic controllers rely on. At least 6,600 technicians were expected to work throughout the shutdown but more than 3,000 others were subject to be recalled to work.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the bonuses acknowledged the dedication of these few workers who never missed a shift during the 43-day shutdown. In a post on X he described it as Santa’s coming to town a little early.
These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown, Duffy said in his formal announcement.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association union said only 311 of its more than 10,000 members will receive the bonuses. The union said these workers with perfect attendance deserve recognition but so do the others.
We are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition. More than 311 of these dedicated professionals were instrumental in keeping America moving, the union said in a statement.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said the thousands of technicians it represents worked hard to keep the aging computer and radar systems controllers use operating during the shutdown, and they should all be recognized not just the 423 getting bonuses.
It took many hands to ensure that not one delay during the historic 43-day shutdown was attributed to equipment or system failures, the union said in a statement.
Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen questioned why all the controllers and others who worked to keep flights moving during during the shutdown won’t get bonuses.
For the Trump administration to not give a bonus to every single one of these hardworking women and men is wrong; they all deserve a bonus and back pay, said Larsen, who is the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee.
The controllers union said they hope to work with Duffy to find a way to recognize all the other air traffic controllers who worked during the shutdown.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that any TSA officers who went above and beyond while working without pay would get $10,000 bonuses, but she never specified how many will qualify beyond the handful of checks she handed out to officers at a news conference.
The FAA was already critically short on air traffic controllers before the shutdown. Duffy had been working to boost controller hiring and streamline the years of training required in the hope of eliminating the shortage over the next several years.
Duffy has said that some students and controllers quit and more experienced controllers retired during the shutdown. Many controllers already work 10-hour shifts six days a week because the FAA is so short on staffing.
As more controllers missed work, the FAA ordered airlines to cut flights to relieve pressure on the system. Duffy said repeatedly that FAA safety experts became worried as the absences grew because of reports from pilots concerned about controllers responses and a number of runway incursions.
Since the shutdown ended, controller staffing has improved significantly and airlines were allowed to resume normal operations this week.
Josh Funk, AP transportation writer
