From a very young age I was raised to believe that I would find love just like the princesses I read about (I was always Belle from Beauty and the Beast). Although, in 2016, there aren’t many evil step-mothers, dragons or tall towers for princes to save us from, are there? So where are the boys at? On Tinder.
I don’t know about you, but I have never actually heard of anyone finding love on Tinder. So I downloaded the app for one week (for research purposes, of course) to see if it is possible for sparks to fly online, technical glitches aside.
First off, I must admit that I am the kind of girl that can fall for a guy in five seconds flat. Honestly if a guy even smiles at me across the dancefloor at Four Four, I’ll turn to my friends telling them I fancy someone new. It’s that easy for me. Baring that in mind, I think it’s a lot harder to get to know someone on Tinder – even harder than yelling over music in a nightclub.
Firstly, conversations tend to be boring. Once you match with someone you’re obliged to partake in awkward small talk as a starting point. If you’ve never experienced small talk like this, to put it into perspective, imagine reading one of those endless lists of terms and conditions over and over again. Yeah, there’s a reason no one has ever bothered to read them.
After the millionth “hey” followed by some sort of an emoji, you then move onto where you’re from and usually telling them about your college course. Everything is so vague, it’s like filling out an application form. The worst part of this awkward limbo phase is that this brief, boring conversation could happen over a full day. Unless you’re glued to your phone and are not embarrassed to publicly use Tinder, then you have to wait for each other to reply. For example, on a Monday I have three lectures in a row so if you wanted to message then you would be waiting quite a while. Not ideal.
Some Tinder users decide to skip this stage and get right to the point. I don’t know why I was surprised at the start, after all we are young and Tinder is probably primarily used for hook-ups. However that’s not why I was on Tinder so those lads were rather quickly unmatched.
For an absolute stranger to message me like that based solely on the basic information shared on my profile is such a weird concept, in my opinion. Why bother? No glass slipper, just a flirty message. At least find out my last name first? I could be wrong but I highly doubt any kind of relationship could emerge from a one night stand – but as I said, maybe that’s just me.
Yes, technology is a huge part of our lives, but wouldn’t it be better if we keep our love lives far from the internet? If I could have it my way, I’d turn back the clock and re-introduce the old days of dating. Although it’s hard to believe, people actually had relationships without Snapchat, Facebook and above all, Tinder. If it’s good enough for Disney princesses, it’s good enough for me!
So here’s some advice for all of the guys out there; get off your phone and get on your feet. Ask a girl on a date. I guarantee she’ll be much more special than one in a thousand matches getting yet another “hey”.
-By Amy McMahon
