Tinder Fails to Fullfill Basic Purpose
Tinder is falling short of expectations, failing to help individuals create meaningful relationships with each other.
The popular dating app Tinder is a mobile application that allows for individuals to select potential partners through a system of swiping. If an individual sees the picture of someone appealing, they can swipe right to ‘like’ the person and if not, they swipe left to ‘dismiss’ the person. If two people like each other, they will have the opportunity to message each other over the app. There are several other features, but these are the most fundamental to the app.
As smartphones reach the hands of more people than ever before, the ability to acquire anything with just the touch of a finger has found its way into many markets, dating included. This led to the eventual rise of dating apps like Tinder, whose website claims, “any swipe can change your life.” But does Tinder deliver on this claim? According to a Vanity Fair article published in 2015, Tinder is the “dawn of the dating apocalypse.” The article elaborates on the experiences of individuals living in New York City who used the app. Their consensus on the app was that “Tinder sucks,” said Vanity Fair.
It appears that Tinder hasn’t had a very warm reception among its users, but surely things change after a few years, right? Ruslan Zubkov, a student at Green River, weighed in on the matter. “I first got it because I was getting tired of trying to approach girls out in public, it seemed like an easier game plan,” Zubkov said, “but after a while, you realize there is no real spark because your first impression is made through a monotone discussion on a digital screen.”
Several students agreed with this. “Most people say they’re on there for serious dating, but as soon as you meet someone they just want to hook up,” said Joseph Fontes, another GRC student.
It’s apparent that Tinder doesn’t deliver on the idea of helping individuals find something genuine, but what if you’re looking for something more casual? According to a 2017 article by Psychology Today, “Tinder very much has the reputation of being a ‘hook up’ app designed to facilitate fleeting sexual encounters.” But are sexual encounters the only reason behind downloading the app? The article then goes on to challenge this claim by citing a survey conducted in 2017. Psychology Today said, “So what was the most commonly cited reason for using Tinder? It’s popular: 48.3 percent of the respondents indicated that the main reason they used Tinder revolved around its popularity – the media hype or the fact that many of their peers were using it. Only about 5 percent of those surveyed indicated that the desire for hookups was their main motivation.”
Since the data shows that the main motivation to use the app is its popularity and only a fraction of those who use it intended to have casual hookups, why do people still use the app after spending time doing something that ‘sucks?’ “In this day and age, the demand for instant pleasure is higher than ever. Just look at Amazon delivery, it is expected to have 2-day shipping and people become frustrated when they have to get something shipped overseas because it takes longer,” Zubkov said.
Another student, Micah Shaviri, agreed when she said, “I think it has a lot to do with lack in attention in people.” Vanity Fair echoes this when it mentions that the app gives instant gratification because it gives validation of one’s own attractiveness.
Does this form of instant gratification help formulate meaningful relationships between people on the app? “I’ve heard of people getting married from Tinder,” Shaviri said, “I just know that for many people, it’s to help with the void they feel about their existence.” Zubkov continued this idea when he said, “They [people] lose their humanity in the process. They become detached and lose sight of commitment in a relationship.”
Tinder has difficulty helping individuals create meaningful relationships because of the state of mind it put its users in. It’s apparent that instantaneous gratification does not equate to meaningful relationships because it inhibits a substantial amount of humanity that enables people to construct those relationships in the first place.
