I have finally succumbed to the pressure. Well, kind of. Ok, no one was pressuring me. I did it because I wanted to feel better about myself one night. I joined Tinder.
A few months ago I was broken up with someone for what I would consider fairly shallow reasons. The short of it is he preferred a size 2, large breasted, super model-ish woman as compared to my average size, decent looks (I mean, I don’t think I need to wear a bag over my head), small chest and large(r)…well…bedonkadonk (something which, I might add, has never been a problem in previous relationships nor am I looking to change!) The process of coming to terms with that is in another blog but one of the ways of dealing with the aftermath was joining Tinder.
(For those of you who don’t know what Tinder is, it’s a free app for your phone in which you can potentially interact with people. If you like the way they look and what they choose to say in their 200 character profile, swipe right. If not, swipe left. If that person swipes right too, you can chat via their version of text messaging. The app allows you to come in contact with other users of the app within a 50 mile radius of your locale which means wherever you are there is a chance to meet someone!)
So, on a night that I just wanted to feel good about myself and see if other people found me attractive, I joined Tinder. Essentially I was in the drivers seat and was able to “swipe away” those I wasn’t attracted to (without the chance of really hurting their feelings) and was encouraged when someone I found attractive also found me attractive. I know, I know, perhaps not the best way of dealing with things, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
I developed a love/hate relationship with the app and go in spurts of checking it or not. On the one hand there is an allure to the potential dates and people who you might not normally run into. On the other hand, the amount of potential dates can be intimidating, not to mention the stereotype that goes along with a free dating app—that most people are on it for sexual encounters exclusively. (The following screenshot of a message would be a great example! …his messages are in gray, mine are in blue…)
So that got me thinking; I have started to notice a few trends as of late as I have delved into the world of Tinder and it has opened my eyes even more to our modern culture of dating.
- There is a hustle to dating - people are in and out quick
- Dating is like a buffet
- There is no typical dating etiquette
- People are bolder behind a phone screen than in real life
- It’s consuming and overwhelming
- …and yet oddly satisfying
Let me explain…
- Finding a date nowadays seems to be tailored for someone with Adult ADD or ADHD. It’s fast paced and if you take too long to respond to a request you are either ignored eternally or responded to with a snarky comment. As a general rule I have been trying to not be so attached to my phone, which means that many times I don’t even know where it is. A few weeks back I received a message from a guy who I had been communicating with in which he gave me his phone number and asked to communicate via text (which I actually would not have been opposed to). A couple hours later when I checked my phone, he had already written another message back with a passive aggressive statement regarding me not contacting him (which you can be sure was enough red flag to indeed NOT contact him). I began paying attention to how fast someone would lose interest in me—if I responded immediately to a message the interest was maintained. If, for whatever reason, I did not respond immediately it was far more likely that I would never hear back from that person.
- Dating is like a buffet. It’s hard to concentrate on just one person, nor do you need to concentrate on just one person, when there are 15 more eligible bachelors/bachelorettes who are filling our inbox with messages. I used to get really mad about this and yet I find myself doing it from time to time too. Having this many options allows one to create in their mind a standard of perfection that simply doesn’t exist in any one person. This person’s smile, another person’s build, another person’s zest for life combined with another person’s nurturing spirit; someone who is partying every weekend and another who takes life and responsibility seriously. There is no need to get serious about any one person when there are always more on standby for when something doesn’t work out. In fact, that thought actually perpetuates things NOT working out. The thought of “is there someone better out there” plagues even the best of us who value commitment, fidelity and loyalty; it’s hard to resist when it’s just a click away!
- Ever since I was a teen I knew very well of the unspoken rule that if someone calls you/texts you after 10:00 at night it’s a booty call. And lest you want to be perceived as someone who is looking for that, you maintain communication during the non-booty-call-hours of 8:00am—10:00pm. However, it is not abnormal to wake up to several messages from several different guys that were written only a couple hours before I woke up in the morning. Not only is my first thought questioning what their intentions are, but I can’t help but wonder how someone who advertises himself as an attorney can stay up until three or four o’clock in the morning every night and still be at the office by 8. The expectation is that we are online all the time which means that it’s not so uncommon to stay up until the wee hours of the morning texting back and forth with a perfect stranger—all starting off as innocent conversation and quickly moving to things that you would not want your momma to see!
- The concept of being bolder behind the screen (phone, computer, iPad, etc.) is getting a lot of buzz as of late, typically in regards to teens and young adults. However, the same is true for people in their 30’s and 40’s. When someone asks me to meet them for sex (see the above text), I can’t help but wonder if they were in front of me would that truly be the first thing out of their mouth? Maybe I am naive, but it would seem that the chances are much slimmer. Having the barrier of a screen seems to allow people to un-filter, say whatever they want and not truly see or feel the consequences of their words and actions. This of course only leads to objectification. If someone feels it appropriate to ask people for inappropriate things (e.g. sexually) it is probably safe to assume they are also not seeing the other person as having a heart, soul, emotions and a mind. And if we want to go down that road, this seems like a perfect recipe for breeding sociopaths (…I’ll refrain from getting on that soapbox!)
- Online dating can be absolutely consuming and overwhelming. It’s pretty much a full time job! The other night I realized that my settings on the app were not reflecting the true age range of people that I was looking to meet. After increasing the age not only was I faced with endless options, I also woke up the next morning (a mere six hours after shutting my phone off the previous night) with 15 notifications of new matches and messages. That’s 15 potential relationships, 15 conversations to keep straight (not to mention the handful of other guys that I was already communicating with) and 15 responses to the typical get-to-know-you questions. By 10:00 that next morning I had received 6 invitations to go out that night which then led to the task of politely declining them…all. Before I knew it, my morning that was going to be used for catching up on housework was gone as I had just spent more hours than I would like to admit communicating with potential dates. The exhausting part comes in knowing that the likelihood that it will happen again tomorrow is pretty great. Talk about overwhelming…
- …and yet, it’s oddly satisfying. I can’t deny the fact that looking at my phone with invitations to get to know me, take me out and compliments about my profile and pictures aren’t something I like. I do. Who doesn’t? As overwhelming as it is to wake up to those messages, it kind of makes me feel good to know that someone (or 15 someones) wants me. Sitting at home by myself on a Friday night doesn’t seem as bad or lonely when I know there were at least options to go out and the choice I made was what kept me in. Being able to jump online in a moment of desperate loneliness and try to find connection (no matter how shallow it might be) has a certain appeal!
And that last trend…well, that’s the trend that makes the other trends bearable. It’s the trend that speaks to our deep need for connection and relationship. It’s the trend that keeps us hopeful despite all the less than appropriate encounters. It’s the trend that keeps us from deleting the app. It’s the trend that keeps us swiping right.
That last trend speaks so deeply to my human need for intimacy—to be seen, known and loved by another. It’s truly a basic need just as food, water and shelter are. And it makes sense since so many of us go after it as if our lives depended on it. Though the trends in how we go about finding love and what the appropriate or inappropriate ways are to do so vary from year to year and generation to generation, the fact remains that we do it because we believe in the possibility of love.
What these trends have taught me is to develop a thick skin and an uncanny weeding system. I have had to come to terms with the fact that I am going to receive messages from people that make my skin crawl. I am going to be rejected because I don’t text a stranger after 10:00pm. I will get no response from someone whom I don’t respond to in a timely (30 second) manner. And while I could let these things deeply discourage me on this quest and even give me a ‘right’ to live with an edge of cynicism, it can also propel me in hope knowing that with each missed connection I am, perhaps, one step closer to a great connection. Though I do not like the current dating trends I choose, day after day, week after week and month after month, to do it. I choose to do the hard thing and keep putting myself out there. I do it for something bigger than me. I do it for love. I do it because maybe, just maybe, the shoe will fit and I will be someone’s Tinderella.
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