After a tough breakup I experienced in the spring of 2015, I decided to create a Tinder profile because that seemed like the logical thing to do. Tinder was something that everyone had, even people who were in a committed relationship. It was a fun app that everyone was using. This began my on and off love/hate relationship with online dating. I tried other sites but the only ones that really stuck are sites like Tinder.
For those of you who don’t know what Tinder is, it’s a dating app where you like or dislike someone by swiping left or right on their profile. Swiping left means dislike, swiping right means like. A person’s profile consists of a couple of photos of them, a short bio, if you have mutual friends on Facebook and if you share mutual interests. If you swipe right, which is the “like” side, and the other person swipes right, then it’s a “match.” This is the only way that the two of you can have a conversation.
I have been on and off Tinder for 2 years now. There’s a strange craving one gets for the simple act of swiping. It’s something that is usually done out of boredom or during small breaks of time, but it is also a pretty reliable way to get to know someone. When I have deleted the app for whatever reason, I almost always find myself wanting to swipe on profiles when I’m not doing anything else.
One thing I hear a lot is: “But isn’t Tinder just for hooking up?” For some people it is, but it doesn’t have to be. I have in my bio that I’m not looking for hookups, as well as some sassy one-liners. If someone messages me something like “dtf?” then I either unmatch them or send them a GIF of someone vomiting or shaking their head “no.” I try to keep a sense of humor through the abyss of sexual messages.
And through this void, there are also quite a few nice men who try to start a conversation with me about something I said in my bio or how my day is going. Half of those conversations either end because one of us didn’t respond or because they asked for a hookup.
The other half is made of decent human beings who I usually end up meeting. We usually go do something casual like get coffee or ice cream. I’m always down for food with someone who I find attractive.
Another thing I hear a lot is: “Tinder is so superficial.” Well, yes it can be. But if you want to get a pretty solid first impression of someone, you can look at more than just their picture, and read their bio to see if you two share any common interests.
The dates that I go on are almost always fun and/or interesting. I love meeting new people and getting to know them. I have also met some of the most interesting people through Tinder.
The moral of this story is to try Tinder if you want to. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s strangely addicting. Most importantly, it’s what you make of it.
