Apps and social media permanently raise the perceived availability of alternatives. This does not just affect single people. It quietly raises the threshold for staying. People stay in mediocre or declining relationships less patiently when they can see or imagine higher-status or more attractive options. When DMs are clogged with Hellos and timelines are filled with imaginary choices. This is more acute for women in their 20s-30s and for high-value men at any age, but it affects both. The practical result is that many people leave workable relationships for hypothetical ones because they think they are missing out and then discover the next person has the same ordinary flaws without the history. Or even worse. The people who stay longest are not the ones with the most perfect match. They are the ones who deliberately limit comparison, treat the relationship as a decision rather than a continuous evaluation, and keep investing after the easy phase ends.