College-aged students have a stigma that Tinder is an app for finding short-term partners.
But as someone who once had an account on the popular dating app, there are more people on it who are searching for deep, meaningful connections than one-night stands.
At first, I kept the fact that I was on a dating app very quiet. Only a select few of my friends were aware because I was wary of what others would say.
As time progressed, meeting people online made it easier for someone like me, who was nervous about going back out into the dating world, to talk to other single individuals.
The fact that if at any point I didn’t want to talk to them anymore, I could just delete them from my app and be done with them was comforting. Once I was more open to the fact that I was on Tinder, I started to learn that a lot of people I was friends with had met their current partners online.
One of the most convenient features that Tinder has is the ability to select whether you want to swipe between men, women or both, which makes it inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community.
Another feature that draws some into online dating is the ability to get to talk to people outside of your daily routine. For Bumble, you can increase your match radius to go up to 100 miles. So even if you don’t live in a particular city, you still have the opportunity to get to know someone from there.
For many, online dating helps you push yourself out of your comfort zone.
I was the type of person who couldn’t speak to anyone I didn’t know without getting very nervous, but the more time I spent getting to know and talking to guys online, the more comfortable I became with who I was and what I wanted in a partner.
It helped me with my self-confidence in a tremendous way. I used to hate uploading pictures with my smile, and I’d do anything to hide my face. But after continuously being complimented on it, I started smiling huge in all the pictures I posted.
My current boyfriend and I met through Twitter, and although it’s not a dating app, I believe that social media has made it so much easier for people to direct message one another online and flirt.
What was once a very stigmatized act, finding a partner online seems to be the common denominator to most relationships now.