We should stop looking at Tinder as just another hook up app

We all know that Tinder has always been the place to go to when we’re drunk and bored and want to make ourselves feel good ( because who doesn’t like when their phone vibrates and says IT’S A MATCH! )

It’s like a game. But there is another way we should be looking at this app that, let’s be honest, is on every single person’s phone.

We may all want to start seeing our dating lives differently, because they are different. It’s not a bad thing that we aren’t like our grandparents, who met someone IRL, went out a few times and then got married. We are a generation of busy, impatient people. We want someone now but don’t want to wait around to meet someone. Maybe internet dating and swiping on apps has become our way of bumping into someone on the street.

Because so many people are looking to Tinder and other similar dating apps to find someone to fill their time, I decided to test it out. So I started swiping (and more seriously then I have before, since I never really did take Tinder seriously). I got a few matches. Some guys were nice and some were way beyond creepy. But after messaging one guy for a while, I made a date.

I’ll leave his name out of this because he was really cool, and I don’t want to ruin this. But here’s the low down on how my Tinder date went.

We chatted for a couple days, going back and forth about how awkward I am and how normal he was. He then told me how he didn’t like texting so we should meet up for dinner or something. I was nervous that I would be one of those people who got catfished or kidnapped, but I agreed to dinner. We agreed on a spot, date and time and said we would chat later that week.

Being the space case I am, I completely forgot and we had to reschedule for a few days later.

I made my roommate drive me to Fishtown, where we were meeting to get pho (which is a hard thing to eat on a first date). I was freaking out so badly we had to play stupid pop songs in the car to calm me down.

I waited for him to show up and my hands would not stop shaking. It was a mix of excitement and nerves.

I finally walked up to the restaurant and there he was: tall and as adorable as I had hoped. He lived up to the expectations his picture had given me, and he seemed as nice in person as he had on the app. He did everything right from the start – he held the door open for me and pulled out my chair for me to sit. We talked and talked, barely looking at the menu when we got there. We finally ordered (he forgot I told him I didn’t eat meat and ordered an appetizer that I couldn’t eat). We laughed about it and then went on with trying to slurp our broth and eat our noodles without looking like total idiots.

After an hour or so of talking and eating we decided we were done, but neither of us wanted to end the night. So off we went to stop number two: a whiskey bar down the road. We ordered some drinks, and he told me about his family and his jobs.

There was no need to go send the emergency text to our roommates, telling them to call and pretend there was something wrong. We also proceeded to tell each other what our back up plans were if we thought the other was a total psycho.

So guys, Tinder isn’t just for hooking up. You CAN actually go on a nice date and meet someone cool. I’m not saying it’s for everyone, and my nerves may not be able to handle going on another blind date, but it was kind of nice to talk to someone who didn’t know anyone else you knew.

We all hate that feeling when you meet someone and they know half the people you’ve ever slept with.

I’ve had some experiences with Tinder where guys are messaging you from the start about coming over or going out for drinks which has turned into an invite to their houses to “hang out.”

I think it may be time for people to stop looking at Tinder as another hook up app. I’m not saying I’m going to marry this guy because he bought me dinner and didn’t expect me to go down on him but because of all the stories I have heard in passing. There have been many people in my life who have met their significant other on a dating app, whether it be Tinder or Bumble or jSwipe.

There is a change in the way people are dating and we may want to look at apps like these to meet new people that may become a boyfriend of a girlfriend. Sure, there are many people who still see the app as something to fuck around with on drunk nights or to find people to hook up with a couple times and then say “see ya later!” That’s okay too.