The App Store describes Tinder as a “fun way to connect with new and interesting people around you” and “a new way to express yourself and share with friends,” but is this innovative way of meeting new people affecting students’ ability to interact with one another?
Social media is becoming the way many people interact with each other, especially younger generations, and so with this idea in mind, I set out to ask students who are Tinder users if they feel that it is easier to socialize via Tinder as opposed to having a face-to-face interaction, and I got a variety of answers.
“Tinder is not what socially impairs people. It’s all sorts of social media, like Instagram and Facebook. It is just the way we communicate. We need to move forward; it’s the future of human interaction,” said Bernie Faccio ’18. “No, not for me. I am very social,” said Karina Fernandez ’18. “Yes. Face-to-face is more demanding and you can sort of hide behind a screen,” said Jackie Jimenez ’18.
It seems that Tinder might actually turn into the future of human interaction. What, then, sets Tinder apart from other forms of social media? The difference between other social media networks and Tinder is that many people are “judged by appearance because it is picturebased, and it is all about their physical appearance,” Yvette Ramirez ’18 said. Tinder encourages physical attraction to determine whether or not a person likes another.
I asked Tinder user Fatima Hasan ’18, “Do you think a committed relationship could develop from two people who meet via Tinder?” She responded, “I think it can happen. Never say never, and I’m sure a lot of people have serious relationships that began through online dating things like Tinder.”
It seems that although not many people like to admit to using Tinder – judging by the amount of “no’s” that I received when asking people to answer questions – there’s a chance that Tinder will become the future of social interaction, or at the very least, a much-used method.
In today’s world, technology is a driving force in many of our lives, so it is not surprising that many people resort to technology to meet new people. Many students at Lake Forest College seem to believe that social media is part of our culture and will not affect our face-to-face interaction. With that being said, happy Tindering, Foresters!
