Like every other college student, I downloaded Tinder. Every other post on Twitter was a screenshot of a conversation and it was all that my friends would talk about. To understand the hype that the app was receiving, I caved and downloaded the app. I found the best pictures of myself I had saved to my camera roll, formed some witty bio, and began swiping. I have to admit, the app is extremely fun.

I didn't download the app with any intention to find a future spouse. I would find myself swiping mindlessly for large periods of time just for fun and would get really excited every time that I received the immediate "It's A Match!" message. For once in my life I was receiving attention and compliments from boys and I was living for it. I had never really been viewed as an "attractive" girl before, but now I had ten new compliments a day. The app completely changed my perception on myself.

After awhile I began to check the app religiously. I was on Tinder more than I was on any other form of social media. Every spare second of time that I had I spent messaging boys back on the app and in all honesty, Tinder took over my life. I spent more time swiping left and right on guys than I did trying to meet people in real life.

It wasn't until the pickup lines and confidence boosting messages stopped appearing on a regular basis that I realized how detrimental this app actually was to the perception I had of myself. One night I was laying in bed, swiping right on every guy I deemed to "fit my type" when I received a message that left me in a state of disbelief.

"I swiped right after your first picture because of your tits but then I saw how fat and ugly you really are. It looks like your thighs are swallowing your shorts."

I wish I was making this up, but I'm not. Dalton who was 2 miles away from me that went to Arizona State University really took the time out of his day to message that to me.

After that message, my Tinder experience went downhill.

I figured that it was time to get something out of this app than a split-second of satisfaction every time I was notified about a new match. I began to attempt to use the app seriously, hoping that for every 10 frat boys on the app, one good guy would exists and maybe, just maybe, I would find a potential boyfriend. I began to go on a few dates. Most to restaurants that were around campus or out to a movie or two. The date would go fine; we'd laugh and have a good time, but when the date would come to a close I'd deny the option to go back to the guys place and then I would never hear from them again. Throughout the year or so I was active on the app, every single guy I began to talk to would stop talking to me within a few weeks.

I went from having all the confidence in the world from each new match I got, to slowly beating myself up over things that happened because of Tinder. The way that I was viewing myself was changing regularly because Steve who had a puppy in his profile picture and also liked The 1975 didn't swipe right back or Jonathon who was into photography and was 6'2" stopped replying to my Snapchats. Every now and then I would receive a message much like Dalton's that would let me know how "fat" or "unattractive" I was. At first I would brush it off, not letting their opinions phase me, but the more that I looked into it the more that I started to believe it.

Soon it seemed like every match was setting me up for some type of failure. Either it was they insulted me right off the bat, would get offended if I wouldn't hook up with them, or they would lead me on for a few weeks before "ghosting" me like we had never once met. The cycle was ongoing and was constantly the reason I began to view myself negatively.

This was when I realized it was time to say goodbye to the app that was taking up so much of my time. Getting rid of the negativity that I was constantly feeling was as simple as deleting the app. After clicking the little x button on the upper left corner, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Of course I was the one choosing to let these messages bother me, but not having the option to view and see the messages everyday was a relief. Choosing to remove myself from Tinder was one of the best decisions I have made. Receiving cheesy pickup lines and swiping right on random guys I went to high school with was fun, but it was time for me to make a change. I suppose now it's time to meet boys organically and not through a superficial online app.