Many people are skeptical about the prospect of online dating. While I understand that it has had a bad rap in the past, online dating websites and apps have helped to connect people of all ages and backgrounds. Although meeting someone online may seem impersonal, there is a whole world of opportunity to meet the love of your life or even just your next partner. Although it might be strange, there is even the chance that you might meet some new friends or just someone to hang out with. Having a personal success story with the dating app Tinder, I fully believe that the technological age we live in has offered many benefits in the way of meeting your soulmate.
1. More accessible to a greater amount of people and therefore allows you a greater selection, so to speak.
In college, whether you go to a small school or a large school, it rarely happens that your soul mate will be sitting three feet in front of you in your English 150 class. High school dating often functions this way, but once you are out in the real world, it is much harder to just organically meet someone. Apps such as "Tinder", "Bumble" and "Match.com" often help to make connections outside of your everyday encounters, save time and therefore are more desirable to a greater amount of people. This, of course, in turn, offers a greater amount of people available to you to meet, increasing your chances that you will find the perfect one.
2. Being able to communicate before you say yes to a random date.
Now, as we all know, there are some sketchy people out there. While online dating websites and apps can be cause for skepticism, I believe that as long as you are smart and go with your gut, you should be okay. I also highly recommend talking to that person and getting to know at least a little bit about them before you meet in person, and of course, always meet in public places if you can for an added level of comfort. All dating apps have some sort of onboard messaging system that allows you to communicate with the other person once you have "matched", which makes it easier to get to know someone without giving out other information. All in all, the apps are designed to allow you to be picky with who you could potentially see yourself meeting in person, and in a world where that is almost never possible, it's an awesome feature.
3. Not as scary as meeting someone cold-turkey on those awkward blind dates.
If you have ever been on a blind date, or have even been set-up with a friend's friend, or otherwise totally random person you know nothing about, you know how awkward it can be to sit down at a table and be like "tell me your whole life story". With that in mind, online dating sites at least allow you to see pictures of the person, a few random facts about them, and likes/dislikes (which is a good thing cause I know that you have to be willing to run across the street to pet dogs with me). So more often than not, you at least know a little surface information about them as a person, rather than the fact that your cousin's boyfriend thinks his best friend is a perfect match for you.
4. You meet people you would never have imagined existed after existing in your same friend group for 3 years.
This ladies and gents is how I met my lovely boyfriend. Timing was everything for us and I believe that, like many things in life, this is often the case. As we go to two different colleges, there would have been no way that we would have ever met, had it not been for "Tinder". It was only after meeting and getting to know each other, that we discovered we had lived across from each other when I was in elementary school. So I do believe in fate, and I also believe that expanding your horizons is not a bad thing. The people you typically encounter could potentially have a love interest, but oftentimes, it's a random occurrence when two people find each other; dating apps and websites make that much easier and have the ability to expand horizons.
5. You can save money by being able to choose who you want to spend money on.
If you are a guy, this one may be important to you. If you are going on a lot of first dates, there is a good chance that your wallet will soon be (if it isn't already), empty. So having the freedom to not waste time on people who you know you wouldn't click with, can save a lot of money, that can be well spent on a date that you see potential in. Now, ladies, I mean no disrespect, but look at it from a guy's perspective. Etiquette dictates that guys pay for at least the first date and you couldn't afford it either if you paid for yourself and your date every time you went out.
All in all, dating is hard. It is tiring and can feel like an endless sea of "could have been's". But don't stress, because online dating and apps often offer a cheap, if not free, way to meet some good people. You may even find that your soul mate was closer than you thought, and where would you be if you hadn't swiped right?
