Today is all about how I met… Tinder!
It was Saturday night and I was out with my friends. As you ’ve probably figured out by now, I’m always in the mood for some fun, but that night was a bit different because it ended up being a rather educational night for me.
It was a normal Saturday night (me being half an hour late due to no goddamn parking, wearing black, excited to catch up with my friends after the hols) until the moment my best friend took a look on her phone and said “Oh my God, it’s a match!”
The matchy matchy hashtag had come alive but I had no idea what she meant. What was she talking about? How did she match with someone through her phone? Was it a new function on Instagram? How did she know that they actually “matched”?
… Well, as you’ve all guessed, my bestie was officially a pro on Tinder and I am probably a 90 year old alien, because I had never heard of “Tinder” or any other dating app in my life until that very moment. Following a statistic galop that I made, I realised that everyone around me was familiar with the whole online-dating-thing, so I had to try it out.
The app was simpler than I thought. All you do is:
- Download the app;
- Tap “Get started”;
- Fill in your mobile phone or log in by email;
- Enable location (apparently it’s a location-based dating app);
- Edit your profile – add your favourite photo, select your sexual preferences, the maximum distance of your potential date and their age range;
- Start swiping! (Swipe right if you like the person, or left if they’re not your type. If they like you too, then “it’s a match!” and you ‘ll be able to talk to each other through the app)
Even though I’m old school and I prefer the traditional way of meeting people, I have to admit that the app is fun and addictive actually. The options are endless; just by putting yourself out there, there is common ground already. This probably explains why most millennials are obsessed with this dating method because the thought of meeting someone in real life is just much harder.
Tinder registers 1.6 billion swipes a day and let’s face it: swiping is the perfect commute hobby. It’s a problem solver for anyone who is shy or introverted and whilst some people would use Tinder because the rejection might seem easier to handle, I have to warn you that people on it could be totally superficial and ruthless as hell! (I guess that’s what happens when people hide behind a screen.)
There’s a huge debate on whether dating apps are safe and healthy, and I must say that my opinion is somewhere in between. Dating apps could be problem solvers and problem makers at the same time for a billion reasons that I’m sure you know already. The danger of meeting the wrong person is everywhere, I mean, of course, there’s always the possibility that the person behind the profile you’ve just got matched with is not mentally stable and you might put yourself into danger, but this could also happen with a guy you meet at church! – I would have said “bar” but I had to be a bit dramatic on this one! 
All I’m saying is that your other half is out there, waiting for you to find them: either by swiping right and matching or by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and actually having a face-to-face chat. Who knows? Maybe keeping your phone in your pocket and catching a stranger’s glance will give you the same buzz as a “you’ve got a new match” notification!
If not, you know what to do!
xoxo,
Andrea
