Tinder. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the dating app – it requires users to decide if you like the look of someone from just a few pictures. The one where you swipe right if you think they are hot, and left if you ultimately don’t.
Originating in America, Tinder has become one of the most widely-used dating platforms, in 196 countries, getting up to 26 million matches per day, with a total of more than nine billion total matches.
Whether using the app to find a date, friendship or purely just for fun, it has become a way for people, especially students, to interact and connect.
I must admit, I’ve had reservations over Tinder, but to give a fair, non-predetermined view of the app, I decided to download it.
I was not expecting much. However, after having Tinder for just a day, I received my first weird(ish) message: “Hey Rachel, If I was to say I was hungover would you a) stroke my back until I felt better or b) tell me to stop being a pussy????.
“Will you live up to this super like reputation? Haha”
A ‘super like’ is a fairly new feature where if you REALLY like the person you can let them know with this button. If things weren’t creepy enough already, right?
Quite frankly, I was confused and amazed at how this individual had come up with this sentence. Surely if this guy was to go up to someone in person, he wouldn’t use these lines.
It’s almost like Tinder gives people this confidence which allows users to say what they want, no filter. This guy genuinely thought it was a good chat up line – if you want to call it that, and was embarassed when I didn’t respond in the way he wanted.
Reflecting back on what he said, he admitted it was a ‘desperate attempt’.
As my description was empty, another user was intrigued to know more about me.
“Your description part is empty, don’t know what to say except hello how tall are you? Lol”
If you think that’s odd, I strongly recommend you to follow Tinder Nightmares on Instagram.
Its page has more than 1.3 million followers and it allows people to anonymously send in screen shots of strange Tinder messages they have received.
Here are my favourites – brace yourself, it gets weird.
[tabs-header][tabs-header-group open=”one” active=”yes”]1. Ladybug[/tabs-header-group][tabs-header-group open=”two”]2. Girlfriend[/tabs-header-group][tabs-header-group open=”three”]3. Prince[/tabs-header-group][tabs-header-group open=”four”]4. Questions[/tabs-header-group][tabs-header-group open=”five”]5. Kid hates[/tabs-header-group][/tabs-header]
[tabs-content][tabs-content-group id=”one” active=”yes”]
[@TinderNightmares]
“I think you are pretty like a horse or a ladybug. I’m not sure which”.[/tabs-content-group][tabs-content-group id=”two”]
Credit to @TinderNightmares
Another crazy message from a guy named ‘Stephen’ had him apologising for taking so long to reply, claiming:
“My girlfriend deleted this app but I opened it back up.”
“Watcha doing tonight?”[/tabs-content-group][tabs-content-group id=”three”]
Credit to @TinderNightmares
This anonymous ‘Nigerian Prince’ promised to make his match ‘rich beyond your wildest dreams’, although all he needed was a phone number, bank account number, and the matches Mother’s maiden name.[/tabs-content-group][tabs-content-group id=”four”]
Credit to @TinderNightmares
‘Matt’ seems a little too eager when asking his match random questions, including:
“Do you like literature?
“What is your bra size?”[/tabs-content-group][tabs-content-group id=”five”]
Credit to @TinderNightmares
And finally, ‘Anderson’ is reflecting on the things “you hated as a kid”:[/tabs-content-group]
[/tabs-content]
When reading through cringe worthy messages like these, it makes you wonder if these singletons are serious or not, and honestly, it’s hard to tell.
I spoke to one individual about his activities on Tinder to try and get my head around what some people think when networking on this app.
22-year-old student Jake, from London, admitted he tries to pick up girls on Tinder by asking them over, which to him, was unrealistic.
“I once asked a girl back to my apartment to see what she would say, although I live at home with my parents, they don’t know that.
“I normally go on Tinder when I’m bored, yeah I flirt with people, but to me, it’s not serious.
“I’ve never actually met someone off the app”.
In a world where social media is so ingrained into everyday life, it is almost seen as the normal way to talk to people now, so it is obvious dating apps like Tinder have been so successful.
Many people in relationships have met through Tinder, with some users even sharing their experience on gotinder.com, Tinder’s official website.
For one couple Duncan and Hollie, their Tinder matching experience turned into a happy ever after. Two-and-a-half years after meeting, Duncan popped the question, and they are now happily married.
Another couple to tie the knot because of Tinder is Rachael and Jason. Rachael explained on gotinder.com how Jason used the app to propose.
“As we’re walking, Jason said ‘I wonder what would happen if we downloaded Tinder again. Would our old messages be there? Would we match again?’
“After matching with each other, Jason messaged Rachael a long, heart felt message explaining how ‘There is really just one more question I would like to ask.’
“Already crying at this point, I looked up from my phone to find Jason on one knee, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. And that was it.”
My overall opinion on Tinder is mixed, it is obviously a hilariously strange way to meet people, however, despite the cringe worthy messages users send to one another, it has proved to work, and some Tinder stories have had a “happy ever after”.
But I, on the other hand, have deleted the app.
Featured image By Denis Bocquet via Flickr CC.