Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

I'm Dan Premack. On today's show, Facebook tries to write a constitution and the venture capital Boys Club.

But first, the gamification of dating. So tonight, millions of couples will do the Valentine's Day thing,

going out to overpriced dinners and grabbing last second roses, cards, and chocolates from whatever store or street vendor still has some

left. And that's the same as it's been for decades. The big difference today, though, is that a

large percentage of those couples met not at a bar through a friend, but on their smartphones.

According to research by professors at Stanford and the University of Mexico, 39% of U.S. heterosexual relationships and a whopping 65% of same-sex relationships in 2017 began online.

Now, a lot of that's through traditional dating sites like e-harmody or Match.com, but more and more is coming via

apps like Tinder and Bumble, which have essentially gamified the dating process.

Hyper-personalized, endless options, and like so many other online games, highly addictive.

What's too early to know, of course, is if these app-born relationships will be stronger and more fulfilling than their analog predecessors.

Or, again, like so many other online games, if they'll ultimately be looked back on as wasted time that can't be recovered.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper on this with Axios' Jesse Lee, who wrote about the gamification of dating over the weekend.

But first, this.

Axios chief technology correspondent, Ina Freed, shares breaking news and analysis on the most

consequential companies and players in tech from the valley to D.C. Subscribe to get smarter faster

at signup.axios.com. And now back to the pro rata podcast. We're joined now by Jesse Lee. So,

Jesse, why did you want to write about the gamification

of dating in the first place?

Well, it really started with reality dating shows, actually. I've never been huge on The

Bachelor, but I became obsessed with Britain's Love Island and also had seen a number of episodes

of China's If You Are the One. And, you know, of course, these dating shows,

...