Conspiracy theories are the talk of the town right now. From hidden government agendas to apparent evidence of parallel universes, the whole internet is ablaze with conversation about every theory you could possibly imagine. While it might be fun to sit around and theorize about whether or not Justin Bieber is actually a lizard or if the Mandela Effect has any legitimacy to it, the scariest theories are the ones revolving around companies, branding, and apps because those are the ones that hold the most water.

I wrote an article back over the summer about the conspiracy theory that Starbucks employees purposely misspell names on cups, knowing that pictures of those cups will end up on social media, resulting in free advertising for the company.

Also, rumors about companies using subliminal messages to hypnotize consumers into purchasing their product have also been circulating a lot as of late. (And anyone who has ever taken a marketing class knows that people have good reason to worry about this.)

The newest conspiracy, though, is one that very few people are talking about for whatever reason, and that's the theory that dating apps that rely on swiping to create matches (i.e. Tinder, Bumble, etc.) are specifically designed to keep the user single so that they will continue to use the app.

The conspiracy's origins remain unknown, but anyone who has used a dating app in the vein of Tinder knows that while the user's number of matches pile up significantly in the app over time, very seldom are messages ever exchanged.

Perhaps this is because the feeling of self-validation one feels when matching with someone negates the reason for any further contact? Or because we're becoming a society of individuals who hate/suck at making small talk?

One thing is certain, though. Apps like Tinder make their money off of lonely singles. Think about the random ad that pops up in the place of a cute new potential match. Tinder makes money off of you seeing it, even if you simply give it an impatient left swipe. Or how about the fact that you can "run out of swipes"? When this happens, you're forced to pay money to upgrade your membership unless you want to wait the given amount of time for your swipes to renew (doubling your chances of being forever alone). Then there's that moment when you've been left swiping for what feels like an hour when you see a total hottie, but your hand left swipes on autopilot causing that potential lover to slip away into obscurity. You can opt to go back and swipe right on them, but once again that move requires an upgrade of your membership and that's real money being paid for a fake connection.

There are lots of things to blame for apps like Tinder not working to find millennials their soulmates-- hookup culture for one. However, what would these apps be like if you were forced to send a message to each person you matched with? The chance of having a real connection would increase significantly. Who knows? The love of your life could be chilling in the thousands of untapped Tinder matches in your arsenal.

The sad truth is, according to the theory, these apps know their formulas could use improvement to boost success ratings, but they'd prefer for you to keep swiping.

Stick it to them by attempting to start a conversation with all of your matches. Who knows? A little effort might pay off.