Judith Duportail: “I thought I had chatted with 50 guys, but it was more than 800”

When Judith Duportail split from her boyfriend, she shrugged off her despondency and set out on the road to freedom and adventure in Paris. “I dreamt of having a life like Sex and the City, and, for that, Tinder seemed to be the appropriate tool for me,” says the 32-year-old French writer.

The American dating app had just been launched in France and appeared to offer everything she wanted — notably an online link to an endless supply of men whom she could contact or ignore as she pleased.

“But I soon realised that it doesn’t work out like that. It’s not all cocktails and glamour and no feelings. The reality of these apps is not Sex and the City, it’s dealing with