Lately it seems like more love stories are starting with meeting online rather than the typical we locked eyes from across the room and the rest is history type of romantic narrative. While love at first sight may seem old fashioned in our dating app-driven society, some people may prefer starting a relationship in a more traditional manner. There was a recent Vanity Fair article in which a woman eavesdropped and interviewed many twenty-somethings about the Tinder-spawned hookup culture in New York City. From her findings, it seemed so common and normal in the city that never sleeps to be constantly swiping to find your next date or sex partner. In a fast paced, no-time-for-chit-chat city like New York, young adults are more likely to be keen on finding a quick fix to replace an actual courtship resulting in a boyfriend or girlfriend – but what about the women of LMU? In surveying female students on campus, I saw not only how many girls are actually using Tinder and other similar “hook-up” apps, but also what they experienced and think about others them.
Of the 46 women that took the anonymous survey, the results of who has used Tinder before were split pretty evenly. The main reason I found that girls on LMU’s campus use Tinder is to flirt with people, and most girls selected 1 on a 1 to 5 scale of how likely they are to actually meet up with someone they meet on an app. One of the questions on the survey asked about how someone would feel if they found out the person they were interested in had a Tinder account. Of the 25 women who said they have never used Tinder before, 10 would be very disinterested, 10 would be somewhat disinterested, and 5 girls said they would not care. Not surprisingly, 10 of the 21 girls who have used Tinder do not care at all if someone they are interested in uses the app, 10 care somewhat, and only 1 would be very disinterested. Also not too surprising, 16 of the 21 Tinder users reported feeling uncomfortable from an inappropriate message sent to them through the app. A few girls even wrote specific absurd pick up lines they have received that they consider turn offs. For example, one girl said a guy started a conversation with “your smile is so contagious that if you smiled in the direction of a rainy sky, the clouds would disappear and the sun would come out and all the village people would be happy.” Probably not a good idea, guys.
It is interesting that a few girls mentioned that they either used Tinder abroad or knew friends that did as a way to meet people and learn more about the cities they visited. Several people also said they had either been on Tinder dates or know girls who have started serious relationships through the app. The overall message is that many women on campus are using apps like Tinder, but it may not be because they are looking for a quick hook-up. Also, guys should keep in mind that some girls are turned off when they find out you have an account. So whether you currently use Tinder or think it’s ridiculous, you probably should not be too surprised when your best friend starts dating someone she met online in the near future.