The Rise and Climax of Tinder

Thesis
Using scholarly journals, media articles, and personal knowledge and experiences, I aim to use the content below to introduce the concept of online dating, the advent of technology within dating, the initial purpose of online dating and finally, how that purpose has majorly altered with the digital age. By leveraging all of the information discussed, this paper aims to argue that the purpose of online dating has shifted from finding a meaningful relationship over the web, to finding a casual ‘one-night stand’ for making one’s Friday night more interesting than it usually is. To support the argument, Tinder – a novel and popular online dating app – shall be considered as an example.

Introduction to Online Dating
Online dating is defined as the practice of searching for a romantic or sexual partner on the Internet, typically via a dedicated website or application. The relationship between technology and dating has been gaining momentum ever since the advent of the “digital age” where technology continues to render most objects (and people) obsolete. The newspaper ads lead to telephone conversations; VHS lead to video dating, while more recently, the Internet lead to online dating. Gendered stereotypes behind the numbers in online dating are diminished with research showing that the percentage of male online dating users is about 52.4% while the percentage of female online dating users is about 47.6%, thus making the online dating world fairly mutual ground.

The Pros and Attractions of Online Dating
In his article “The Pros and Cons of Online Dating”, Stephan Betchen touches upon the idea that online dating reduces the odds of being humiliated and potentially diminishes the fear of rejection. Users are most likely sending messages and pictures to multiple people. There’s obviously no face-to-face contact and hence the reason that online dating diminishes the fear of rejection or humiliation. Betchen also argues that online dating might just be the ideal way to date, owing to the fact that one already has a foundation built up with the person before he/she even meets them for the first time. If one meets someone for a date triggered through online dating, it is very likely that the couple has spoken online for a considerable time, exchanged pictures, discussed hobbies and interests, and has a fair idea of each other’s personality, before the date itself was set and commenced upon. This is a fundamental factor as it potentially thaws the ice, prevents any nasty surprises in some cases, and most importantly, allows for a confident and natural conversation to take place between the couple, which is obviously very essential if this very couple were to go on to have a meaningful relationship.

A paramount feature of online dating is its ability to cater to a niche market of any kind. Online dating has the numbers to show for it, and with the plethora of online dating websites that exist today, finding one an ideal match is a matter of a few clicks and scrolls. All kinds of eccentric relationships have been made possible through online dating. There are websites geared towards immigrants, specific races, and different sexual orientations for that matter. The idea here is that no matter who someone is looking for, there is always someone out there for the single mother, for the divorced business-man, for the student looking for an encounter, for the senior person looking for someone to love, or for the busy doctor who has absolutely no time to go out there and enjoy a social life, and that’s when online dating comes into play and caters to these very niches.

Introducing Tinder - "The Hook-Up App"
Launched in 2012, Tinder is a smartphone-based application that facilitates conversation between users that are mutually interested in each other (each other's pictures, that is). Tinder is location-based and its principal interface displays pictures of other Tinder users within a specified radius of distance - based on the user’s location. Tinder was also one of the very first applications that ran on "swiping". This is where the user swipes through his or her screen, through the pictures of various prospective matches within the area. Swiping right exemplifies an interest in the person whereas swiping left simply denotes lack of interest, and moving on to the next picture. Users that do not have a mutual interest - a mutual like - towards each other's pictures are not shown on each other's interfaces any more. Users that have registered a mutual interest in each other are notified that "they've matched", which leads to a chat box open up between both users, hereby facilitating conversation between them. By 2014, Tinder was registering a daily average of a billion swipes.

In the world of social media, "likes" or hearts are the (only) way to go when it comes to acknowledging someone's comment, post, or picture. In order to maintain the "positive social media environment", most social media applications like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter only allow you to "like" and there is no "dislike" button, or anything within those lines, which allows a user to express feelings of dislike or negativity. This is where Tinder is extremely successful, owing to its 'X' button (swipe left) which allows a user to discard another user's profile. "Tinder actually encourages people to pass judgment in a superficial way. That, however unkind it may seem, holds real allure. In some ways, it's even refreshing" (Bosker, 2015).

"It grants permission for those in our culture to rate others based on physical appearance, and furthermore, it teaches us how to slash an 'X' on those we find unattractive (too old, too short, too much facial hair)," lamented Carlina Duan, a contributor to the University of Michigan's Michigan Daily student newspaper, in a story about Tinder. “It teaches us that dating, then, is a process of physical attraction and only physical attraction."

Liking or discarding someone's picture, based purely on physical attributes, is a major reason as to why online dating applications like Tinder are being used more for 'hooking up' over a meaningful relationship.

Research Question
What is your true intention or objective behind using applications such as Tinder? A casual hook-up, an open casual relationship (friends with benefits) or a meaningful relationship?

Research Methods
The objective of my research and data collection would aim to prove that applications like Tinder are used mainly for casual quests, over anything serious or meaningful. In order to collect data, a highly-detailed online survey shall be designed. Participants shall be assured of their anonymity and they shall not be required to name themselves or present any personal details whatsoever. It has been taken into consideration that not all participants would be entirely comfortable in doing a physical survey. The purpose behind an online survey is to ensure privacy and anonymity for the participants.

By ensuring that a large number of participants take part in a highly-detailed survey (100+), the objective shall be to collect accurate and substantial data to prove my thesis.

Sources and References

 * Brinson, K. (2014) "Tinder, the Fast-Growing Dating App, Taps an Age-Old Truth". Retrieved from The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/tinder-the-fast-growing-dating-app-taps-an-age-old-truth.html?_r=0
 * Bosker, B. (2015) "Why Tinder Has Us Addicted: The Dating App Gives You Mind-Reading Powers". Retrieved from The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/tinder-dating-app_n_3044472.html
 * Yahya, M. (2014) "Painless Hook-ups". Retrieved from: Privacy Journal, ISSN 0145-7659, 08/2014, Volume 40, Issue 10, p. 2
 * Betchen, S. (2011). "The Pros and Cons of Online Dating" . Retrieved from: Magnetic Partners. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/magnetic-partners/201103/the-pros-and-cons-online-dating
 * BestDatingWebsite.org (2014). Advantages to Using a Dating Website. Retrieved from: http://www.bestdatingwebsite.org/advantages/
 * Statistic Brain (2014). Online Dating Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.statisticbrain.com/online-dating-statistics/