The Age of Technology and the popularizing of dating apps have both, equally, transformed the dating world for college-aged people. Dating has become as simple as a left or right swipe on the screen of your smartphone and most people actively make use of dating apps, like Tinder and Bumble. Yet, despite their popularity, there still seems to be a stigma toward people who use these apps to meet people and date.
It seems that dating apps, particularly Tinder, have become associated with assumptions of casual sex and that those who use the apps are purely looking to meet partners for this sole purpose. This has altered the entire social interpretation of dating apps and, therefore, created a negative stigma toward people who choose to use them because they are viewed as sexually promiscuous.
For fear of social judgment, many people are ashamed to openly discuss their use of dating apps in their dating lives.
The stigma and tendency for judgment are simply ridiculous and hugely hypocritical. The sheer popularity of the apps and the fact that modern dating culture is ruled by its acceptance of the notion "hooking up" make the use of dating apps ideal for meeting people in any dating context, including for casual sex.
With that being said, it is not so much the app itself, but rather the way it is used.
I initially met the guy, who became my current boyfriend of seven months, on Tinder. I was an active user of both Tinder and Bumble and as a young, single woman, I found it much easier to meet guys this way. The ability to chat with my potential dates before having to actually meet them in person allowed me to get a feel for their personality and decide whether I actually wanted to go on a date with them. Going into the date, I often felt more comfortable and, therefore, was equally as confident as I was comfortable.
Because I was more confident the outcome would be positive, no matter the context, more of the outcomes WERE positive.
One day, one date went really well, but neither of us was ready for what the other was expecting of them at the time. Our first few dates were the beginning of the year(+) - long friendship that, later, led to the to me and my boyfriend's 7-month (and counting) long relationship.
I'm not embarrassed about the way we met because I am just unimaginably grateful for where it led me.
My boyfriend went from being a great friend to my boyfriend to my best friend and had it not been for Tinder connecting us, two mutual swipes right and a few mutual friends on Facebook, our paths would more likely not have crossed.
Then where would we be?
It doesn't matter where, how or why you meet the significant people in your life. What matters is that you did meet them.
People don't come in or go out of our lives for no reason, each one carries out one of the many ascending to create our own best selves. The joy, pain, sorrow, frustration, anger, pleasure or affection they cause us to feel, we learn something about not only ourselves but other people and the way they treat us.
If your single, do what feels comfortable and works in the best way for YOU. Give Tinder or whatever dating app or site you want if you want or don't. It really doesn't matter as long as you're the one satisfied in the end.
