I asked more than 20 people as to why they would use online dating and which app satisfied their expectations. I expected them to mention Tinder as the holy grail for hookup culture and was surprised at the lesser known app circling app stores. I was surprised at the honesty and religious practice of swiping left and right at a gazillion faces during one's free time. The majority of people mentioned Tinder as their go-to place for finding a quick, no strings attached encounter with someone in their proximity and age range. Bumble came up second with a more 'feminist' approach of giving women the upper hand to shoot a message first, and having a 24 window to answer or the match would disappear. To which many women claimed they disliked because they wanted to be messaged first. Then, I came upon a couple of mentions about an app called "Hinge." This app became an outlier when analyzing the common apps Millennials use to meet up. Unlike Tinder and Bumble, this app excludes the common bio section and requires you to have six pictures, and answer a set of random questions that result in a magazine layout about you. The objective of this app is to give people the Tinder and Bumble effect in a more personalized manner. I asked the four people who mentioned Hinge about its possible perks over the latter, and they mentioned its flexibility for users. Hinge allows you to check out profiles without limiting them to your current location and avoids the cringe-inducing super like option. The downside, is that there is no filter to choose age range so you could either get teenagers or 50-year-olds wanting to match with you. Also, it lets you know who wants to match with you, without having to pay the extra fee Tinder and Bumble requires.
Setting that aside, I asked my online dating guinea pics about perks and annoyances of online dating, and the whys. After avoiding to answer my questions directly, I concluded most do so as a means of saving time and having the human menu at the swipe of a finger. Many of them rather get a feel of a person through text, and many admitted to wanting to stalk their potential lovers before meeting up in person. Being bored also played a major factor when Tinder users were asked why they liked the app. When it comes to pet peeves about the apps many had something to say:
Tinder:
"Guys always have a picture holding kids and writing in their bio "not my kids." But guys are not just the culprit in making Tinder a cringe worthy app, many users also reported giving an automatic no whenever someone makes up reviews about themselves as their bio. Also, out of the 24 people I questioned, 19 of them had been asked to send nudes on Tinder, and asked to follow accounts on Instagram.
Bumble:
"It's like Tinder, but with guys with degrees, so at least you know he's sort of smart." Other than giving women the upper hand, I must say upon comparing profiles on the different types of online dating platforms, Bumble had the most eye alluring profiles out of all. "You get the fuckboys with class."
Hinge:
On Hinge you get the hipster baristas and ivy leaguers with witty answers to questions and Chuck Bass facades. "You know what I love about Hinge? It makes guys say how tall they are." Chances are if you use Hinge and you're 5'9 like me, you get a forewarning of whether or not heels are allowed.
Bottom line, Millennial culture has surprisingly resorted to using online dating not necessarily for hookups (although many admitted they do), but also for the sake of meeting new people in general. Upon questioning my guinea pigs further, ironically, guys were much more hopeful about finding a potential girlfriend through online matches versus women who much rather meet a potential lover through mutual friends.
