Dear Nev and Max,
My name is Jessica and I have officially deleted every dating app I have used. For that, I have you to thank. I’ve been using dating apps ever since I can remember. Now, I have never been catfished (thank God), but after binge-watching your show for the past two weeks, I know that I don’t even want to make that a possibility.
As a millennial in 2018, it’s only human for me to use dating apps and meet guys over the internet. So why did I delete them? Well, after watching your show and seeing the heartache most of the people go through after being manipulated and played, I have learned that I’d never want to be in that kind of situation.
Online dating seems like a trap to me. You go on your phone, open Tinder or Bumble, and next thing you know you’re sitting there for hours swiping left or right on a picture judging to get to know someone from their looks. From what I’ve learned from Catfish, you never really truly know someone - especially not from a picture. I think that’s what scares me the most. The amount of time that’s wasted sitting your phone waiting for love to message you seems too good to be true.
Now, I’m not going to sit here knocking dating apps. I and many of my friends have had relationships without being catfished from online dating. In fact, one of my best friends met her boyfriend on an app and they have been happily dating for almost two years. And that’s what gives me hope about online dating. The success stories.
Even from watching the show and seeing how there are couples that do work out and even get married restores a faith in me about dating apps. And that’s when I redownload, swipe right, and maybe start a conversation or two. But, it doesn’t last for long. I tend to think about what the outside world has to offer and the other men out there that I could meet if I just put down my phone for one second and looked.
Meeting people in person can be scary, but that’s what makes life interesting. Wouldn’t you rather go outside of your comfort zone and see the real thing in front of you instead of wondering if that person you just swiped right on is actually real? There’s so much that we don’t notice in the world because a good amount of us are glued to our phones looking at the world through a social platform.
I’m not saying that my prince charming isn’t on a dating app because it’s likely that he is. But, I would much rather get to know that person and find him at the right time in my life in person.
Catfish has given me a new outlook on what dating apps and online dating have to offer. If I ever redownload a dating app and I’m ever skeptical about someone I talk to online, all I have to do is drop those images and phone number into Google, reverse search it, and maybe just maybe I’ll find the guy. Or I can always email you.
Yours truly,
Jessica