In today’s society, it’s getting harder and harder to meet our significant others. People say all of the time that we’ll find them when we aren’t looking, but when aren’t we looking? If we don’t randomly find them in the mall, at a coffee shop, or going for a hike, we try Tinder. Tinder is its own type of demon, but it teaches you many things.

Tinder teaches us to judge a book based on its cover and to that, to choose our best picture as our first notice. On Tinder, you’re not liked first for your personality, or what you do for the world, you’re liked first based upon how you look. Others notice you first based on a picture that you have chosen to separate you from the rest. Tinder is a beauty contest.

Tinder teaches us how to put our best foot forward. Before potentially matching with a person, you see their pictures and then their short bio (let’s be honest, unless they are really, really attractive, or just not your type at all, you don’t swipe right based on the first picture. You go digging through the rest). Based on what you see, you decide whether to swipe right or left. Your biography and your few chosen pictures determine your fate during this process. Now is the time to put your best foot forward.

Tinder teaches us to talk to random strangers. It teaches us communication skills, in more ways than one. The only way to get to know the person you matched with is to talk to them, to get to know them. It’s at this moment, how the talking flows, that determines what will come next.

Tinder shows you the attractive (and sometimes not attractive) locals near you. In this way, Tinder teaches you what’s out there. Later on, you may notice these people around your town.

Tinder teaches you that no one is the same. We’re all different. We all have different ways of approaching things. No individual has the same personality. Everyone you meet on Tinder is unique.

Tinder teaches you how to find connections. You’ll find others on Tinder that you could potentially have a lot in common with. And some, that you often wonder why you swiped right on in the first place.

Tinder is great for some people, don’t get me wrong. I know couples that met through Tinder and are doing great, some are even married. On the flip side, Tinder is also known as a “hook-up app” and is a really good workout for your thumb. Do all of your matches end in a date? Probably not. Do all of your matches make it past the first day of talking? Sure, most of them do. No matter what you choose to do with your Tinder,

happy swiping.