Is the single crowd using "Tinder" as a crutch?
Being single is a bunch of people sitting around in the shade texting; it's not a big, lavish party; it sucks. There are several new dating apps popping up to help us single people out. I fell into one that I find overwhelmingly bizarre in an innocent way--and it's called Tinder.
It touches on that threshold moment where you see someone who is attractive and subtly tell her she is by clicking the green heart--swiping right. Then when that exact woman is presented with my photograph and clicks the heart, it automatically moves us into a new window for conversation. It's a matter of developing the courage to say something, but that's what so wild. Why can't men launch into conversations in public with women? They can when they are communicating with digital ink on the couch of a separate area.
Then it comes to flirting through the digital ink on Tinder: one tries to be his best self, the very best one could possibly be, ever, in the history of his livelihood. And what you have is two people competing to sprinkle out their best material.
Tinder is like a bar that is open 24 hours a day, so you swipe till you puke.
Going deeper I think we are all way too occupied in our own lives, maybe married to our careers, and that's why we joined the app in the first place. We are wasting all our precious time trying to keep up with social media and real life. Then comes the time to partake in the app. Sometimes we do the app because we are too busy in real life so there is no other way one can meet other people--there just is not enough time. I think we single folks are bolted down to other thrills, and somewhere down the line something has got to yield.
We do it because we think it's fun; something to do to pass the time of day. But deep down we are doing it because we are scared--and most of all shy when it comes to approaching the opposite sex.
Technology is good in small doses, and I believe America is pigging out on technology--we are getting fat on technology by overindulging it--and it's time we lose some of that technological weight on our shoulders and alleviate it, so we can feel more true to our healthy, natural selves. America is technologically fat; yeah, I said it. We send several texts on our cell phones, power through e-mails on the computer, binge watch TV shows. Then we somehow have time to like Instagram posts--and the Twitter posts, we've got to favorite those. Oh wait no; let's send a SnapChat real quick. It's exhausting, and a full-time job. No wonder single people are burnt out and can't hold conversations unless they have their phone with them.
Oh, this is awkward; no one is saying anything; I'd better look at my phone and pack in some information to pass the time.
We are anchored down to several different applications at once--and it's stomach churning. Sure, one can say that person is fine or just enjoys technology, but the single crowd is in denial and over consuming the electricity that goes into the technologies we are operating. We need to find the right balances because something is off, or it's just a technology surplus--and we should pillage while we can.
We tend to ignore the threatening energy beneath the surface of things: the strange and awful truth that the happy world we see is more complicated, that people we know and love lie to us and to themselves about who they are, what they've done, by filtering it through the doorway of technology; people don't post anything bad about themselves on social media. ...When you think of technology as capturing this aspect of the world...the consumption seems far from unexciting. It's, instead, pretty artificial.
I do believe it's better to assume that most people are generally good and just trying to make their way through life. I know everyone has their self-assurances, but most of them are not horrible ones.
So is this a wonderful technology surplus or overdosing on technology? What is next for online dating?
Instead of mining Tinder for "deeper meaning," let's look up from our phones once in a while and talk to each other.
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