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Netflix documentaries like “The Tinder Swindler” show a glimpse of what dating is like today. It reveals the painful truth about online dating, as it details the dangers and risks of the most popular dating apps on the market.
Dating is no longer seeing someone attractive and asking them on a date. Online dating and dating apps are more popular now than ever. The Tinder Newsroom revealed that on March 29, 2020, Tinder broke its own record of swipes per day with 3 billion, and then broke that same record 130 more times in the last year. The online dating scene grew and prospered while COVID-19 was equally as prominent.
But online dating consists of more than one app or website. It also includes Bumble and Hinge, among so many other dating sites that are catered specifically to one given demographic.
But it all makes sense. People use these dating apps to seek out companionship of any kind, most likely because being in quarantine or on lockdown is lonely and isolating. However, this isn’t specific to the pandemic. The dating scene had been changing years before COVID-19.
The concept of online dating seems especially attractive when most places are closed and plenty of aspects of everyday life are virtual. Dating apps provide everything about dating right at the fingertips of its consumers. A person could have an ongoing conversation with a potential partner for days or months on end, sometimes completely avoiding the face-to-face aspect of connection.
Popular online dating apps customized their features to adapt to the new social climate. For example, Bumble added an option to include a vaccination status in the dating profile. These new preferences add another lay of personalization to the dating scene. COVID-19 has not only changed the way of dating, but who we choose to date.
This lack of face-to-face communication has jeopardized the quality of in-person connections. There’s an ease that comes with scrolling on a screen, whereas real life interactions require prep: the outfit, setting up a location and socializing. With two years of dating essentially online, the task of meeting face-to-face can be daunting.
Our generation is essentially out of practice with going on a “traditional” date.
The pressure of dating stacks on top of daily college tasks. Some students are stuck in a balancing act of school work and dating responsibilities. Often times, relationships begin to waver when expectations between partners are not equivalently met or communicated. Any relationship is complicated, but adding on college courses can make for turbulent situations as pressure rises on all sides.
At a surface level, dating apps can be used for instant gratification, no commitment is necessary. Within seconds, you can swipe left or right, based on a person’s looks. And at the same time, if you swipe right on the right person, you could match instantaneously and everything could change.
Nevertheless, there’s still this idea that if you don’t meet someone in college, then you’ll never meet someone. And that’s just not true. Not everyone will or should find love during their college years.
There are many different relationship types represented in The Rocket staff members. One of our staff members is married. Some are currently in long-term relationships, some are actively seeking a partner, some haven’t dated since high school and some are happy being single right now. No matter what group you’re a part of, relationships are unique for everyone, and there is no concrete path that everyone takes.
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, regardless of your relationship status, we are all going through the same things together. Each love story may take its own path, but on the most mundane level, everything comes down to individuals. Some are a bit confused, in love or overwhelmed. It’s human, and we will all figure out this new dating world, one way or another.
