Ah, Tinder. The source of the current dating culture. Or maybe Tinder was invented because of the current dating culture. Either way it’s a tool known to help with the current dating culture.
What is Tinder, you ask? Well it’s one of the hottest ways of finding your next Saturday night, significant other or platonic best friend of the opposite/same sex. It’s based on a swiping technology of swiping to the left (no, I don’t like them) and swiping to the right (I could possible see them in my future of next week.)
Here’s my relationship with Tinder, currently: it’s non-existent, just like my current status with most men (boys) at this university and the Continental United States.
The Story
I was a fresh 21 years old. It was the beginning of July, and I thought it would be a funny prank to put my Venmo on my Tinder bio because a girl has to eat and buy new shoes somehow.
How does one try to raise money on Tinder? Putting “Venmo me 70 dollars and see what happens. (Venmo name [sic for privacy]).” I had read about this girl doing it months ago where guys would Venmo her, and she would unmatch them, so I wanted to see if it worked. I did not know the consequences she dealt with because of her actions.
Not even 12 hours later, I receive an email saying I violated the terms and conditions of the app, which I did and quickly regretted. I got BANNED for solicitation.
I begged to tech support for 48 hours to give me back my account saying that my friends had stolen my phone, unlocked it and changed my bio to play around with me (big lie). Tinder’s response, “You still know the terms and conditions of our app.” I slowly accepted defeat and downloaded Bumble.
I had dug my own hole, and I was slowly climbing down into it until I realized I was begging for my Tinder back like I was desperate to get back with an ex. However, this was a really horrible ex who kept you from your friends and preventing you from finding guys who were WAY better and worth your time.
Silver Lining
While I do miss the guys I met on Tinder and the easiness of meeting them and conversing and having them contact me first, you somewhat miss the physical connection you get when you meet them in person.
I didn’t take this as an L, since other apps exist , and I met my high school crush on Bumble (spoiler: it didn’t work out). I will miss Tinder Social and roasting other guys with my friends and the actual decent guys that wanted to get to know you before ghosting on you and the “most popular photo” feature. However, I will not miss the disgusting messages boys would send or “send nudes, here’s my Snapchat” messages. The attention was nice, but it wasn’t what I deserved.
I’m not saying to delete your Tinder, but just remember your self worth if a boy is being an a**hole to you and don’t swoop to my get-rich-quick schemes. I stepped outside in Iowa City to go boy hunting, but the selection was too much for me so I went home and focused on school and my self-worth.
I got banned from Tinder. Don’t solicit money on your Tinder bio. Boys suck. Resort to Bumble because smash the patriarchy, women make the first move. Go outside and meet and reach out to people in real life. I envy the people that meet their S.O. on Tinder.