“Hey babes, how’s you?”
“Hello gorgeous.”
“Now we’re matched does this make us exclusive?”
“Hey babes, how’s you?”
“Hello gorgeous.”
“Now we’re matched does this make us exclusive?”
“How many beers did I consume last night? And how many chocolate fingers can you fit in your mouth?”
“Look, I don’t mean to be forward but I really want to fuck a girl off Tinder…haha what do you reckon?”
Say hi to Joe, Zach, Matt, Ali and James, 5 boys I matched with on Tinder.
Tinder is an addictive, flirting-dating-shagging app that has taken the UK by storm.
What makes it so addictive?
You login to Tinder through your Facebook account. You can then upload up to five photos from your page and also include a tagline, usually something incredibly witty or profound that will have your potential suitors swiping right.
A swipe right to the green heart registers your interest. One swipe left to the red cross and you’ll never see that person again. If you both ‘like’ each other it’s a ‘match’ and conversation can begin.
Tinder uses your location to show you who is nearby and shows your mutual friends and interests from Facebook. Users set matching preferences like upper and lower age limit, the maximum distance you’d like the app to search for matches, and whether you want to match for men, women or both.
One thing, which makes this app so appealing, is its relative secrecy – you are only notified that someone has liked your profile if you have liked that persons profile in return. Anonymity is maintained unless the liking is mutual. The fear of rejection is eliminated and users are constantly given an ego boost when they are matched with somebody.
The new way to date?
It’s an addictive concept that promises no hurt feelings, no commitment and no risk (unless you get absolutely no matches; then you might be offended).
Tinder behaves more like a game than a dating app, it asks you if you want to keep ‘playing’ and seems to be somewhere in between Candy Crush and Grindr.
It has been criticised for being incredibly shallow-you are literally sitting and judging whether you would like to meet somebody by the way they look. Apart from the optional tagline, the app bypasses the written profile aspect which most online dating possesses. This is arguably a key indicator and the only inkling of personality you get from the person you are considering. But surely, this is just as shallow as glancing at somebody in a bar on a night out and finding them attractive, before going to speak to them?
So, is Tinder the new way to date? Just a straight version of Grindr? Or a fad game that we will all forget about in 6 months’ time?
There seems to be two main views when it comes to Tinder—one, that it is just a ‘sex satnav’ for people to find others nearby who are up for a one-night stand or two, that it really is the new way to date in a busy 21st century world.
But perhaps the beauty of this app is that it can be used for both.
Lots of people I know are now on Tinder, they are not on any other dating sites and most, including myself made accounts as a joke. Some have been on several dates, some have drunkenly met up for sex, as of yet none have found ‘the one.’
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people on Tinder are there for one thing and one thing only. This isn’t to say that Tinder can only be used for sex. Dating can be uncomfortable and awkward, and some people simply don’t like putting themselves out there. That’s why Tinder can be a tempting and convenient option. You just need to find somebody who is on the app for the same reason as you.
Tinder says they have made over 100 million matches and 50 marriage proposals since the launch, so it must be working for some.
You might have to flick through a few hundred faces, have plenty of ‘going nowhere’ conversations, and block a lot of sex pests but your perfect partner could be waiting for you to swipe them right.
What do you think of Tinder? Have your say in the comments section below, on Facebook or on Twitter.
