#tindering

I’m a single, 23 year old woman in 2017, living in a city infiltrated by tech where the population is majority male. So I’m obviously on Tinder.

 I’ve been on Tinder for a while. It was always just a fun pass time/game to play while I waited for Netflix to buffer, but in January, I finally pulled the trigger and went on my first Tinder date.

 It necessarily wasn’t bad.... But I wouldn’t call it good. Of the few Tinder dates I’ve been on, none have been stellar - and the good non-Tinder dates I’ve been on haven’t been very fruitful. Meeting people in person is too scary, as our generation is terrified of face to face rejection.

 Even though I’ve been on some very unsuccessful dates, I know not every person on these apps are terribly boring, or overly talkative, or rude, or creepy, or just annoying. Right? (Note: That’s not nearly an exhaustive list of adjectives.)

 So I’m doing the unthinkable - I’m creating a Tinder challenge for myself - I’m going to swipe often, meet up with a lot of people from the app, and (hopefully) eat a lot of free tacos - to make a better analysis of the online dating world and how it all works.

 My original thought was to swipe right on every one, but after a quick demo, I swiftly realized that is unreasonable - too many odd, unpredictable or slightly scary people...

 So instead, I will abide by these rules with the goal of going on 3-5 dates:

Cannot go ten people without swiping right on one

Must message everyone I match with if they don’t message me within 72 hours

Must swipe at all times of the day, not just night time

Must aim to set up a date within a week of chatting on the app

 I will conduct this study over the next month, give or take, and will report back as needed, being as honest as possible.

 Please note, I will also be:

Setting these dates for public areas

ALWAYS telling my friends where I am and making sure they give me the, “i’m locked out” text in case of emergency bailout needs

Not giving the person my number until after the first date ends

 Because let’s keep in mind that, according to The Economist, “Digital wooing helps people to behave like scoundrels.”

 This is one of those self-evident truths about online dating - but somehow it’s still always surprising when you get one of those extremely vulgar messages. It’s amazing what people think is okay to say online behind the synthetic light illuminating their creepy faces, bad manners and (probably) icky personalities.

 In spite of all these facts, I begin my journey to go on at least one good Tinder date in the next month to prove something. I’m not sure what it is just yet, but I think I’ll know it when I see it.

 Aside from proving something through this cultural experience - I will also be sharing info on the taco places I visit, including rating of the tacos and recommendations.