Tinder

My guy roomie, and member of the Jedi Council, did something wonderful for me! He got me to join this dating website called Tinder.  It's for smart phones only, and is MUCH easier than OkCupid, no writing about yourself, except for a tagline, but only if you want.  Here's how it works: you have to sign up through your Facebook page, so the photos that appear on the app come from your profile pictures.  It is incredibly discreet.  As seen in the photo above, a photo pops up with their first name, their age, and their geographic location relative to you.  You choose your geo settings, from 5-20 miles away, and when you open the app, the little geo tracker picks up people in your location range.  You get to see up to 5 photos of the person, and their tagline if they have one.  Most guys write their height and their city, and sometimes a funny joke or phrase.  You then judge them based on their looks alone and choose yes or no.  It is a bit superficial I suppose, but hey we're all looking for an immediate attraction right? Or is that just me?  If you hit no, they can never message you or see your profile again, you can never see theirs again either so there's no taking back!  If you hit yes, it either tells you if you have a match not.  If you have a match, this means that they've already seen your profile and hit "like", and the opportunity to message becomes available.  The beauty of it, and the way it differs from other sites, is that you can only message each other if you have both clicked "like", so you already know that they like you!  If you hit "like", and the match screen does not pop-up, this means that they have not seen your profile yet.  You will be notified if you receive a match later.

The general consensus is that Tinder is meant for casual hook-ups, as my guy roomie warned me, (it's also why he loves it!)  But hey, I've got nothing to lose right?  I instantly racked up a ton of matches, but was instructed by him to never message a guy first.  You have to wait for them to message you or it comes off as too eager I guess.

So out with OkCupid, in with Tinder!  It can be pretty addictive, and I spend many a dull moment flipping through the guys around me.  You tend to notice some very distinct patterns in people's profiles.  Here are types of photos guaranteed to get you a big ol' X: photos with babies, (do you really not have a photo of yourself without a baby?), gym selfies (super-douchey, I get it, you work out), any reference to cross-fit or vegan diets (I do not want to be judged for not working out or for my wine and cheese), any pictures where you cant quite tell what they look, either they have sunglasses (No!, everyone looks good with sunglasses on) or they're in a profile, or they're in a big group, just give me a straight-on picture of your face darn it!  Any selfies for that matter are discouraged, but ones in the mirror are the worst.  Also, if you have more than one picture of your dog that's weird too.

Details on the Tinder dates coming up next!