This is NPR's life kit.

Hinge and bumble and grinder and lex.

Her, J-Date, match, tinder, okay, cupid, plenty of fish.

Dating apps are a dime a dozen these days.

They come in all different styles and flavors,

but offer users the same twinkling hope.

Love at first swipe.

Maybe you're thrilled about all the opportunity

at your fingertips, or maybe you're absolutely

exhausted by it all, or just wary of strangers online.

Wherever you fall in the spectrum, dating apps,

especially in the past year and a half,

have become a bigger part of our romantic lives

than ever before.

So, how do you make the most of it?

For me, it's been super important to just remember

the stakes don't have to be so high every time.

That's John Paul Braemer, writer and author of Ola Poppy,

a collection of essays that shares the name

of his popular advice column.

Fun fact, Braemer's column actually started through Grindr.

He's going to help us process the many fears and feelings

...