I get it, you're single, lonely, bored or just want a hook up buddy. Many of my friends use Tinder and I understand why, but I still hate it. For those of you that don't know, Tinder is an app that allows you to connect with other people on Tinder that are in your area. It's a dating app that links up with your Facebook, showing you pictures of a local Tinder user and a short bio that they write. You can either swipe left or right, left meaning you don't like what you're seeing and right meaning that you would like the person to potentially message you. Now while you are swiping through people, deeming who is worth it and who is not, people are doing the exact same thing to you. That's where my first problem lies:
1. Tinder makes you judge people
Now I understand you can judge people in real life, but if someone walks up to you that you don't think is pretty or handsome or takes good enough selfies, you can't just swipe them away. Tinder basically teaches you in two seconds whether or not someone will be good enough to kiss, date, or marry. Sometimes, like in real life, it takes more than two seconds to get to know someone.
2. Dating has turned into a virtual app, making it more like a game
Since you have to use your phone to use tinder, it takes you into cyberspace and the girls or guys you click through feel more like things you are trying to win than human beings who have feelings. And do you really need one more thing that makes humans just sex objects? When the person you are messaging is just a pixelated picture on your phone screen, a sense of reality is gone. When I first meet someone I like to see the honesty (or dishonesty) in their eyes, the way they sit or cross their legs, even how they pronounce words or what sayings they repeat... not how well they can talk about themselves over a text message.
3. I have seen my friends use tinder as a solution to loneliness
The second my friend has no one to talk to she opens up the Tinder app. My other friend uses tinder when he is 'bored.' Either way, I don't think it is healthy. I feel like people are trying to fill a void by meeting someone new, someone to fix a problem that probably the last tinder match created. Relationships, romantic or otherwise, need time to grow. It may work now, replacing people with newer people but what happens when twenty matches later you still feel the same? It's okay to be single, it's okay to be alone, I promise.
Now, I know people will still use Tinder and other dating apps but at least be smart about it. Meet your match in a public place, and tell someone where you are going. It might seem hard to delete the app, but it will also delete a lot of negativity from your life as well. And when you do find your match out in public, you won't have to embarrassingly delete your Tinder before they find out.
