When you’re at the college age, and see people in relationships the climate changes. You long for a relationship, and there are many different techniques and approaches that you can take. One of them includes tinder. For example, I met my fiancé through Tinder.

I was on a train [from Massachusetts where I lived] to Virginia for Christmas. On this fourteen-hour trip, I was superbly bored sitting by myself in business class because there were no other coach seats available. Despite being bored, I wanted to find some sort of “activity” to entertain myself. And what other than Tinder to quench my boredom? I was swiping, and found a guy that I liked, and later that night we matched. We got to talking, and a few months later he came to visit me.

Long story short, we got engaged.

I know that one successful Tinder story is not enough to prove its success, however it does provide hope for those that are hopeless regarding their romantic life.

I understand that there is a lot of skepticism, and fear associated with dating apps like Tinder, and meeting “strangers” in general. I am a very skeptical person, though I like to challenge myself in all aspects and thought I would give it a shot. It was senior year of high school, I just turned 18, every other girl in my band class got it and I had absolutely nothing to lose. I will attempt to explain why I think that tinder is a good option to use when looking for “the one”. Every effort that we use to further our romantic life is an attempt at trying to find the one. I like to think of tinder as a vitamin equivalent to a meal. You can of course look around your neighborhood and area as usual, but have tinder on the side to not substitute for a dating life, and if anything it aids.

This app is one of those you-get-out-of-it-what-you-put-in-it type of deals.

You can specify what you want in your bio, and tailor your swiping radar to those who appear to have similar interests and intents as you do.

If you are on tinder for hook ups, that is indeed what you are going to get; if you're using it to date, that's what you are going to do.

There is absolutely no obligation for you to engage in hook-up behavior if that is not what you want.

I believe that you can have a real connection with someone you meet through an app. If you take the time to get to know each other, by calling, and adding each other on multiple social media accounts [so that you have more of an insight of what they look like]. Meeting people in person is very similar to Tinder if you think about it. Walking past people anywhere is an opportunity to swipe right or left, each pass is a social interaction waiting to happen. Not talking to someone on the way to anywhere is closing the door to a possibility you were unsure of. If you think about it, the real world is a lot like tinder. Approaching someone, and them not talking to you, or turning their face, is a swipe left. Approaching someone, and getting a greeting and/or a goodbye is like a right swipe with a potential match. Approaching someone, and having a conversation, is kind of like a match or a super like depending on how the conversation goes.

I know that a lot of people might be ashamed to swipe for looks, but I mean you must find the person that you love the most, at least somewhat attractive. Not only on the outside but on the inside as well. Is it so shameful to want to date someone that you find attractive? When I'm with my significant other, I don't see anyone more attractive than him. He is all that I see, you may as well eliminate the rest of the male species for all I care [Exception: evolution, that actually is important]. I think it's important to have looks that someone appreciates, I wouldn't be flattered if I was on a date with someone that thought I was a 1, and I thought they were a ten.

Tinder does not restrict you to match solely on looks, unless you choose to.

Tinder also displays a 500 character bio that can either be an empty box, or crate, dense with information pertinent to those who might want to date you including your age, your first name, your work, school, interests from Facebook (which can be political, comedic, musically inclined) that can help you determine what kind of a person they are, a Spotify song or favorite artists so you can know what type of music the person listens to, an Instagram link with a couple of picture previews, and common connections. Common connections is one feature I think is especially interesting, you see Facebook profile picture circles, and if a 1 is next to the picture, the "tinderer" is friends with your friend on Facebook as well (so you can inquire about them and see what they're about from another person's eyes), or if you see a 2 next to their picture, this person has a friend, who is a friend, of one of your friends on Facebook. I find it very intriguing. I could meet people who knew my friends in interesting ways, whether it be their cousin, someone they go to school with, worked with, etc...

Regarding the bio, I believe that those 500 characters are what you make of them. If you want an empty bio box, that's perfectly fine. You could also fill it with a twitter-size story, facts about yourself, a couple of interests that you have and what you're looking for, bullet points about yourself, or you could pose a question that could serve as a potential conversation starter, etc...

There are a lot of misconceptions about how you talk to people on tinder. When you’re single, you’re allowed to talk to multiple people, and taste-test to see what kind of people that you’re attracted to, and what you have in common. Matching with people on tinder is not a competition, just like life isn’t a competition. We are all supposed to build each other up, if a connection sparks a flame in a relationship, let it be so. However, if the feelings and the spark aren’t there, you know that there isn’t a relationship [at least not romantically].

Just like when you meet people, you don’t really know what they’re about, even in person. Well isn't that how dating works? Dating is noncommittal, and it's a time to explore and find out what it is that you truly want in a person. Anyone could be in a relationship, regardless of how you meet them, whether it be tinder or otherwise. Someone you just met could easily lie about their relationship status, in exchange for a nice afternoon date or whatever, you can't fully trust anyone until you've known them for a certain amount of time.

I believe that people that aren’t millennials, and are of older generations have given the current generation a bad reputation in the romantic department.

Tinder has done nothing to the perception of the modern day sweetheart. In fact, it gives you a sample of the dating pool to find your ideal fish in.

You can survey the pond and pinpoint features that you find desirable, traits that you find off- You can survey the pond and pinpoint features that you find desirable, traits that you find off-putting, and find out facts about people you might not have known before. I think that tinder if anything has enhanced people's perception of what is "out there" in terms of what they're looking for in an ideal mate. Maybe you didn't know that a Torpedoman's Mate was a profession in the U.S. Navy, I sure didn't until I found this sailor's profile. It drove me to do research and find out more, etc... it expands your mind to the feared unknown. I believe that you can find your "one" anywhere. I have in fact gone outside in hopes of looking, but I know everyone in my small town, and none of them are my cup of tea, they're all bitter in fact. And even if say I met someone in person, they could hide behind my ignorance, because I don't know what they're really like, and can use that to their advantage, fabricating a new life that they've always wanted or hoped to have, and no one would be the wiser. Hiding behind a keyboard is conceivably less fearful than a real person hiding behind a fabricated life that they wove themselves into. That's just my opinion. I hope that helps to alleviate any fears about using Tinder.

Sincerely yours,

A Tinder supporter who’s found her other half.