It's because they're designed that way. They're designed to keep up a sense of "FOMO" and monthly active users, engagement, etc. etc. There is nothing but layers upon layers of an insidious nature to these things - especially when you consider that Match group owns like 25 dating apps/sites, including Match, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge - it's effectively a monopoly on online dating services...and where do they make their money... I recently deleted all the online dating profiles I have/apps/etc. in the last about 48 hours. Probably will end up back on one of them? But for now, pretty happy to really just be focusing on making friends through some of the groups I've recently joined. Fuck Match.
I feel like I'm one of the few who actually enjoyed my time on dating apps. Just had awesome dates over and over, good conversation and fun times. Then eventually met my now partner and pulled the plug on Tinder. I don't miss dating, because my partner is awesome, but I definitely enjoyed the experience while it lasted. Perhaps the era (2015-2017) and being in a smaller town (130k) helped?
Pre and post covid have been way the fuck different experiences, at least for me. I do think the scale of where a person lives also greatly affects the experience.