I’ll be real… I tend to be old-fashioned when it comes to dating. I enjoy being taken out for a proper date. I believe in soulmates and fate and all that other stuff that could very well be pure garbage. When I heard some people talking all about their adventures on apps like Bumble and Tinder, I was intrigued to see what was actually happening on those kinds of apps. Although it is very out of my element and I was scared to create an account, I decided for the sake of dating article research that I would make one, just see what happened, and then report back here with my findings for your own entertainment. Here are some purely entertaining things that stuck out the most to me about dating apps:
1. The pool of potential suitors is overwhelming.
There are just so many people out there. I felt like I was in that scene of The Princess Diaries 2 when everyone is sitting in the Genovia theatre going through a PowerPoint of potential husbands for Princess Mia. It was a lot for me. I mean having a little rotation of people you are seeing is good, but just HOW many people does one need in a rotation? Quality over quantity my friends.
2. There are so many college athletes on there.
This was actually really surprising to me. I figured that most male college athletes pretty much have girls throwing themselves at them, so I’m surprised between that and all that practice time they have the free time to be on these apps. I guess people enjoy having a very broad rotation.
3. Some people are REALLY cringe-y.
When I sent my first message, I physically felt my flesh crawl off of my body when I got a response of “hbu baby”…and they say romance is dead!!!!
4. Messaging a stranger is actually really scary.
Sending a message to a stranger is terrifying. It seems like you are almost writing your own application for MTV’s Catfish. What are you supposed to say to someone you barely know? I barely even know what to say when I run into people on campus that I actually know.
5. I had date deja-vu.
I will preface this by saying that every guy I dated during my high school years played hockey. This was not my choice; I honestly didn’t know anything about hockey until I went to their games and had to pretend I knew what was going on. It just so happened that every guy who ever took me out in high school wore skates and simultaneously carried a hockey stick. While swiping through, I found that so many of the people on these apps reminded me of my high school flings with the flow haircuts, backward hats, and missing teeth from fights on the ice. Thank goodness I have evolved from high school.
Now getting to the deep stuff…
During the whole three hours (lame, I know) that I had an account on a dating app, it did made me pretty sad to see how much people my age are striving to feel affection and validation from others. I truly believe dating apps have cheapened romance. I recognize that dating apps have a combination of users who are looking for hookups and some who are looking for people to form emotional connections with through traditional dates. However, I tend to believe that the vast majority of people on these apps are not exactly looking for a fun partner to play checkers and read the Bible with. Even for those who are looking for emotional connections with people, I still feel it has cheapened the art of dating. Instead of going on dates with a couple of people at a time, we are dipping our toes into a million pools at once. How could we ever put enough effort into seeing a person or making them feel important? I also think that dating apps have even weakened my generation’s ability to have a real conversation while on a date. Messaging someone over Tinder is a whole other ballgame than actually conversing with them in person. Dating apps could be a reason I have been on awkward dates as of recently… just a conspiracy theory.
I am also disappointed to see that my generation, which I feel has made such a valiant effort to make people feel comfortable in their skin, use apps like this that people “swipe” to demonstrate their level of interest based on a person’s physical appearance. It made feel gross that someone on the other end of the app was looking at a picture of me and using just that one thing to determine whether I was worthy of their time. ICK! It also made me one sad girl to think about the people out there seeking out others to validate their physical appearance, which never ends well when it is determined by swiping one way or another. I might be too much of a romantic, but when someone asks me years from now how I met my husband, I don’t really want to have to say “Well, it all started when he saw my picture and knew nothing about me at all, but thought I was smoking hot, so he swiped right anyway.”