Snapchat, the Harlem Shake and aiming for one million Likes on Facebook to achieve something are all trends that thousands of people have succumbed to, but we’re not really sure why. The latest addition to the list is Tinder, a mobile app that finds out who likes you nearby, and connects you with them if you’re also interested.
Wait…let me say that again. It shows you who is around you, allows you to scroll through them a la Chatroulette and then chat and potentially meet up with someone if you’re interested in them. Remember when people thought Foursquare was creepy?
“Tinder advertises itself as a ‘fun way to break the ice... all anonymous until someone you like, likes you back,’ because god knows striking up a conversation is way too risky these days. No, with Tinder, you just have to download an app and scroll through a series of pictures pulled from Facebook,” said Rachel Ryan, a blogger for Huffington Post.
I’m torn with how I feel about this app.
Tinder was originally piloted on college campuses, and that is where it seems to have taken hold the most, according to Washington University’s Student Life newspaper. I can see how Tinder is exploding on campuses – the chances of you recognizing someone are becoming bigger, which can make it a fun social app for you and your friends, you probably want to meet as many people as possible when you’re in college and it opens a door of opportunity for the person you may always see around but never have the nerves to talk to. I’m all for meeting new people, but for post-grad life, I feel like there is a much larger window for you to get caught up in a creepy dilemma.
On the one hand, Tinder seems like another way technology is preventing us from face-to-face interactions and developing some form of actual social skills. On the other, I can see how this is doing the opposite and actually enabling face-to-face interaction. Maybe the social skills that people had 10 and 20 years just aren’t the same today; with all of these technology and social platforms, the skills now required are ones that allow you to embrace communicating with others through gadgets, mobile devices and computers.
For example, you still have to be able to keep a conversation going with these Tinder conversations. Business Insider came up with some of the best lines people used on the app:
For you Tinderers out there, have fun and BE SAFE. I would rather keep on reading funny pickup lines from this app than confirming my fears and reading headlines of Tinder gone wrong. Happy Tindering.
