In today’s day and age, dating apps such as Tinder, and Hinge have become a very normalized way of meeting people and finding yourself a partner.
Our phones have a large impact on our day to day lives. Especially with them being in our possession 24/7, it seems that the easiest way to find your partner is to open up Tinder and keep on swiping until you find the person that you deem the most attractive whether it be because of their looks or their personality. While that may seem relatively harmless to many people, I believe that dating apps are not the best way to find your partner.
One of the main problems that I have with dating apps is that by going on one, you are losing elements of the human interaction you would have experienced if you met the person organically without relying on the app. While I do have good friendships with some of my friends whom I have met online, at the end of the day, I have not actually met them in person. I have only texted them and maybe even done a voice chat. One thing that is pretty well known about the internet is that anybody is capable of being anonymous, and men have used dating apps as a means to scam people who swipe left. When you get a “match” on a dating app, there is still a high chance that it is not an actual match, because the app does not know you like you know you. You could have the same interests as someone, but then that person might not have the same interests as you. It is possible to meet a person who on the surface level may not have any of the same interests as you, but they are a good person who doesn’t cheat, and is overall the perfect one for you.
Another issue I have with dating apps is that similar to social media, I believe that they reinforce the unrealistic beauty standards that our society has for both men and women. Many times you’ll find people who appear to have perfect skin, tall height, nice hair, and a nice body. By seeing those. It can make you feel like you do not look good enough, or that you are “out of their league.” But the reality of the situation is that more often than not, those photos are photoshopped, and sometimes to the point where they do not look or act the same in real life. On the internet, people are very capable of lying, and being deceptive, and it could lead you too more danger.
If you believe that dating apps are the best way to find your significant other, ask yourself this question: When was the last time you tried going out to meet people without relying on technology? While I am more of an introvert, I am glad to have met a lot of my friends and my girlfriend organically in person. Even if you are not one to directly go up to people, relationships can happen when you least expect them, which is what happened with me with my girlfriend.
