Who says we have to rely on serendipity to find true love when we have smartphones? Gone are the days when dressing to impress at the supermarket was the only option of running into a potential date. Now, a quick swipe to the right could land you a date in under 10 minutes.
Dating apps have been on the rise over the past few years, and college students have been taking full advantage of this digital dating world. However, while some dating apps are geared toward long-term relationships, others cater to short-term hookups. One of the most popular among college students is Tinder, a new dating app that connects to your Facebook account to help match you with other singles in your area. Depending on your settings, Tinder can match you up with potential love interest as close as 5 miles or 50 miles away. Tinder is perfect for shy people who tend to have a little more confidence flirting virtually than in real life. It’s also considerably convenient for those with super busy schedules, like myself. However, while Tinder has its ups, it certainly has its downs. The anticipation of meeting someone from the app is quite terrifying in more ways than one, and figuring out the intentions of your potential match is mind boggling. Taking the good with the bad is the epitome of what can be expected in the online dating world.
When it comes to dating apps, I usually steer clear from them. It’s not that I doubt their potential; it’s just that I’m more of a fan of the old-fashioned dating style. I prefer to be pursued rather than respond to an abrupt message; I like to be wooed instead of reading a quick clichéd pickup line, and, most importantly, I favor feeling an immediate connection with a real person rather than a “like” on a picture. Obviously, dating apps aren’t my thing, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that Tinder didn’t pique my curiosity. So I caved into the Tinder binge, downloaded the app, and started swiping away.
Tinder is fairly easy to use; it’s basically a game of “hot or not.” It’s set up like a game of playing cards, with the option to swipe right or left. Swiping right indicates that you’re interested, swiping left means that you’re not. The best thing about this app is that it allows you to chat with people you match with. For instance, if I swipe right for an attractive guy, and he swipes right for me, then it’ll open up a chat session between the both of us. A chat session won’t open up if only one of the players swipes right; it must be a mutual attraction.
It wasn’t long before I had my first match; there were a nice selection of guys on the app, and I was taking full advantage of my opportunities. It was something about swiping right or left that made me feel I was in control of my dating life. I didn’t have to worry if the guy I was talking to found me attractive, or if he was interested. That was clear once he swiped right. However, I learned quickly that just because there was a match, it didn’t mean that there was an immediate connection.
Getting a match on Tinder isn’t difficult at all; finding a match on Tinder who is respectful is the challenging part. My inbox was full of racy messages, overused pickup lines, and a handful of “Hi, how was your day?” questions. Filtering through more than 500 messages, I chose to only respond to a select few. And the ones I did respond to actually ended up being pretty cool guys. But I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to move my online dating life to real life. It’s pretty scary meeting someone for the first time, especially if they’re from an app. There are so many things to consider before meeting a match. Will they be the same person? Is there going to be a connection? And most importantly, “Is he a psycho killer looking for the perfect victim?” Those three riveting questions were exactly why it took me one full month to actually meet someone from the app. I was at ease about meeting up with one of my matches because I had thoroughly done my research. Facebook? Check. LinkedIn? Check. Instagram? Check. This guy was a real person and showed no signs of being a psycho killer, so it was a go in my book. Our date was nice, and we’ve been hanging out ever since. But as far as him being a love interest? I highly doubt it.
Overall, taking my love life to Tinder wasn’t a complete fail. I was highly entertained, and must admit that my confidence has skyrocketed. Tinder is great for killing time and chatting with locals and is a fun way to figure out your likes and dislikes in a future partner. However, finding a potential love interest may be a slight problem on this app. My overall impression of the numerous messages I got from guys is that their main intentions were a quick hookup. While quick hookups may be other girls’ objectives, it wasn’t mine. When it comes to finding true love on an app, Tinder falls extremely short in that area; it’s possible, but ultimately unrealistic. So if you’re looking for an app that caters to quick hookups, then Tinder is for you.
