Don't lie. Let's be 100 percent honest with each other most individuals ages 18 to 25 have used a dating app before.
It's something we've all used, but, because it's a "dating app," we all talk about it in a hushed tone. What is classified as dating apps you may ask? Apps like Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid and a couple of others that connect you with individuals of the same or opposite sex with whom you may be able to find a romantic relationship.
It's human nature; we all crave attention and love, and dating apps are the easiest way to find those two things in the 21st century. In retrospect, it's a bit sad and depressing that two people have to use apps to find love, but--hey--that's the 21st century for you.
In the past year, I've been on and off dating apps, particularly the infamous Tinder. Why do I use Tinder? Well, let me tell you a little about myself: I firmly believe that I'll never meet a real-life boy that'll like me back in-person. Over the years, I've struggled with falling for boys that don't like me back, consider me as only a "friend" or don't even know I exist.
As for an explanation for this, I've developed a theory on why boys don't like me in real life. First off, I look like a 12-year-old boy. It's a fact, I dress like a wanna-be skater and have a shaved head. I'm aware that I don't look like your average girl, because she ain't me. So, like a normal person with seemingly no real-life romance prospects, I resorted to Tinder.
On Tinder, boys tell me how pretty I am, and let me tell you, that never happens in real life...like, EVER. Deep down, I'm a hopeless romantic. The dream is meeting the perfect man at a coffee shop, colliding into each other's arms by accident, which of course results in an instant connection--a love story like the movies. But life isn't a movie, unfortunately.
The reality of Tinder is this: you see a cute boy; you match with "[insert name of the cute boy here]" and then talk on the app for a couple days, exchange snapchats and, eventually, it fades out. On to the next boy and then the one after that, which becomes a repetitive "like, match, talk, fade out" pattern.
Nobody meets people by accident anymore, so online dating is the way to go. I still have hope for a cliché romantic story, though.
In the past year on Tinder, I've had incidents where I see "[insert name of the boy from Tinder here]" in class, walking to class, at events or even from my former high school.
Recently, I matched with a boy that I'd always found attractive during school. Fast forward to the present day, Tinder has allowed me to communicate with a boy I never had the ability to because of different friend groups and paths never crossing in school. Even though he probably doesn't remember me, its connected us in a way like never before.
Dating apps eliminate that sense of awkwardness that would occur with face-to-face communication. It allows you to communicate with people that you would never approach or even know of. Tinder connects individuals of the same or opposite sex in which actual interactions wouldn't generate.
For the time being, I'll be using Tinder as a form of compliment-seeking from boys I'll never meet in real life. Tinder is a game, you see (that's an actual bio from a Tinder boy I matched with), and I'll treat it as such. Maybe I'll find the love of my life or receive a "down to f***?" message tonight on the app.
Love by Tinder? The world may never know.
