It seems like there are dozens of new mobile apps popping up daily, but never did I expect to find so many focused on helping people to meet in person. Seems a little ironic, doesn’t it? Staring down at our cell phones and swiping and clicking in order to get connected with someone local in our area who we could potentially have met just by heading down to the local watering hole. I’m in my dating prime in the midst of this ever-changing tech-boom occurring in online/mobile dating, so it may prove difficult to give a hard-and-fast comparison to how online dating used to be, but it is easy to assume the influx in mobile dating apps has swayed the online dating scene. For better or for worse, you ask? That part remains to be seen.
Personally, as one of the aptly labeled “Millennials,” I hate the stigma we’ve been given as a fickle group: unloyal to corporations, choosier with our beers, moving around more and waiting too long to settle down. I prefer to look on the bright side: we appreciate and want to take advantage of all of the opportunities at our fingertips; it is because we don’t want to settle that we don’t rush to settle down. For this, I praise the advent of online dating apps, because they allow us to personally interact with more potential matches, people who we may otherwise not meet. If I’m a homebody who works all day, goes to my home-gym, cooks and heads to bed, how much opportunity do I really have to meet somebody with the same lifestyle, lest it be on my weekly grocery trip?
Mobile dating apps basically speed up the process of connecting with others in person. While this can be risky as there is less time to get a feel for the other person, it reduces wasted time of corresponding back and forth through an online dating service until an in-person meeting is arranged. Meanwhile, I’ve watched many of my friends sit at a bar, on their mobile apps looking to see who they can meet, and yet no one used the tried and true method: walk up and talk to someone, in person. All irony aside, this is the purpose of mobile dating apps: a quick introduction to potential matches in close proximity and the opportunity to have a conversation, face-to-face.
Sometimes I think we hole up indoors too frequently, because we can rely on our computers to link us up with people, without having to actually leave the house and socialize. There are algorithms we rely on, telling us whether someone might be a match, and we can push them aside simply because some questions we both answered resulted in a 45% match…. (“Ahh… but I know there are so many 80% and above still out there!”) We can judge a potential match based on how someone filled out his or her profile, without ever getting to know the personality behind that smile. That fickle mentality can turn around and bite you in the behind after you’ve met someone on a great first date. Instead of calling for a second date, you think, “Wow, this process really works. I can’t wait to see who else is online- maybe just a little smarter, a little more attractive, a little more successful…”
In the same turn, vanity can be a pitfall of mobile dating apps, because the profiles are simpler, sometimes leaving one only a photo to judge. If we can avoid that pitfall, I think mobile dating apps could do a world of good in getting people out from behind their computer and meeting potential matches in person.
Only time will tell whether technology is a help or hindrance when it comes to matchmaking. As with any tool, though, it’s ultimately up to who wields it and how they use it to get their desired end-result.
MAY
About the Author:
Rebecca is a late 20-something, still in the "dating as a young professional" phase of life. She enjoys soccer, travel and fitness and is currently accepting boyfriend applications, should your [brand name dating site] attempts be unsuccessful.