Tinder. Whether or not we admit to having an account, this app is well known in today's culture (even my parents know what it is). If you don't know what it is, Tinder is a dating app that shows pictures of the gender you are attracted to and you can decide if the people in the photos are cute. If the answer is yes, you swipe right. If the answer is no, you swipe left. If that same person looks at you, he or she can also decide if you are attractive. If both parties swipe right, then it's a match and tells you for the potential to start a conversation. But if one person swipes left, then it is not a match and will not allow you the option of conversation.
I can think of many ways why people use Tinder. Some use it for a conversation, a friendship, a hookup, a date (that does actually happen), or a simple self confidence boost when you match with a cute person and need to show off to all your friends.
These dating apps and services have become what our generation is used to. It has become more normal to message a person you are interested in rather than going up to that cute person in the cafe and introducing yourself. Our parents' generation had a significant lack of social media and could not virtually contact other people. The limited option was to go up to a person and start a conversation which could lead to possibly getting that person's number.
Our generation is the social media age, where you can virtually talk to a person online and never actually meet them face to face. Lately I have been thinking of how superficial these dating services are and how we think it is so normal to rely on them. The fact that we decide if it is worth the time to potentially speak to another person and grow a relationship off of a couple of pictures, a name, an age, and maybe an education/occupation is CRAZY.
Now hear me out: I am totally not against solely being attracted to looks (have you seen what Bradley Cooper looks like?!?) and I do think that physical attractiveness in a relationship is pretty important. But I believe we are in a society where we make assumptions based on physical appearances too heavily and this problem is getting worse due to social media.
Have you ever looked at a person on Facebook who you have never actually met and judged them, whether that be "he looks like a tool", or "no one is that pretty and could be nice", and when you actually met that person and he or she is total opposites of what your first assumption was?!?
It happens all the time. Even when in freshman year of college and you get assigned a random roommate, you automatically look up their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and maybe Tumblr to decide if they are gonna be your next best friend at college. You may never had a single conversation with this person, but you can sense what type of person he or she is by their physical appearance.
Social media has made such a big difference in a generation. No more are there such things as blind dates because now you can easily look up that person on Facebook to see what they looks like. It is a different type of dating environment where physical attraction is deemed more valuable than the actual personalities of people.
My point is you don't have to go with societal standards that are normal. Go up to that cute person in the cafe who you have never talked to before. Have more intellectual conversations with people and ask them what their passions are or what makes them unique. Go on dates, not because you are only physically attracted to that person but because you have similar interests and they have a reputation of being kind and caring to others. Be different and try new things.
