I downloaded Tinder as a joke because my roommate told me it would be fun. Famous last words. I figured I would have it for a day and then delete it, especially since I wasn't even looking for anything.
My first 10 minutes on the app I got five "Super Likes," which my roommate had to explain to me means that someone really wants to match with you. Tinder promotes these likes as a way to help you stand out to someone, but honestly, I am far more likely to swipe left on a Super Like than I am to match.
Granted, I found that I was swiping left on around 98 percent of the people who popped up. If the first picture doesn't hook me immediately, I swipe left. If I tap through more pictures and can't see your face or you only have two low quality photos up of you holding a fish, I am most definitely swiping left. If your bio makes me wrinkle my nose, I'm swiping left.
I do find, however, that it is highly entertaining to swipe right on every single person I know in real life.
Ex boyfriend? Swipe right just to make it awkward.
Someone I graduated high school with? Swipe right just to see if it's a match.
I definitely do not have the app in search of a serious relationship, which I found was the case for a lot of people using it.
I identify as bisexual, which means my Tinder settings are set to show me everyone. I don't know if it's just my area, but the women's profiles are always well put together, and every single one is stunning. I will swipe right to compliment every woman on that app who is putting herself out there since the men's profiles all seem to be variations of the same grainy photo and some bad pick up line in their bio.
Even if I do swipe right, though, I never message first, but that is a personal preference.
I also have my distance set to only one mile. A friend once told me that setting your distance to one mile means that anyone who pops up as further away has already swiped right on you. I don't know if this is true or not, but from what I've gathered, it seems to be true. So, if you want to know who likes you without matching, this is an option other than paying for Tinder premium settings.
Sometimes, your finger slips and you accidentally hit the Super Like when you're trying to close the app. Fear not, you can un-match as easily as you slipped up. There is also no pressure to message someone, and ghosting on Tinder doesn't carry the same consequences as it would outside of a dating app.
If someone asks for your Snapchat, and you don't want to give it, no big deal. Just don't respond. No need to feel bad or guilty, they have other matches they can message.
There are people on the app for every reason you can think of. Joke accounts, people looking for hookups, others looking for relationships and even people who are on Tinder just to make friends.
Just be transparent.
If you're just there to have fun, that is totally fine. Not everything has to be a big deal or a super important life changing match. Sometimes, the app serves as an ego boost and nothing more. Swiping left a hundred times before you swipe right is normal.
Whether you have Tinder downloaded for a month or for an hour, the experience is one worth having.
