My First 12 Hours on Tinder

Sometimes when you're curious about something, you just gotta do it.

Like that one time when I wondered if it would be socially unacceptable to take pics in a photo booth by myself....so I felt compelled to go ahead and do it. (Evidence.) (Please don't quote me on my curiosity logic and use it as a reason to try drugs or criminal activity.)

I've had a similar approach to Tinder. Don't know what it is? It's like online dating....but it's an app. Basically, you scroll through pictures of people in the gender/age-range/proximity of your choosing, and you swipe right if you like them, left if you don't. Sound shallow? Well...it's what we do in real life anyway when we scan a crowd.

After my first (brief) foray into technological dating a couple years ago, I kind of swore it off.

I've had friends get married from online dating, but I'm not sure the cyber-introductions are for me, even if it's really not so different than meeting someone at a party or on the train or whatever, in the end. But after evvvverrrryyyyone I knew started using Tinder (and reporting good/benign things, mostly), that gnawing curiosity took over and...here I am!

Most likely scenario? It'll fascinate me for a week or two and then I'll lose interest like I do with most new apps on my phone. But in the meantime, why not? It's like this cultural phenomenon that I must try.

My reaction thus far:

• Really makes me aware that I only find like 1/40 men attractive. We all have our type, so I'm not totally surprised/ashamed by that. Beards, plaid, hipsters, tacos, good taste in music and 90s TV/movies...bingo! (Tinder tells you if you have any Facebook interests or friends in common, which is a neat bonus.)
• I'm really not into guys who want to tell me what to do, e.g. "Swipe right, you know you want to." Uh...do I? Maybe. But I might go left just to spite you, bossypants.
• It really is harmless and less intimidating than other dating sites seem to be. I have mentioned on the ol' blog that I'm a little soured on dating in general right now...but maybe what I need is something less serious to remind me that dating can be fun, so I'll stop choosing Netflix and sneaking-out-side-doors-of-parties over flirting. (Baby steps.)
• You can tell a lot about someone from the types of pictures they choose to post...or so it seems. Makes me wonder what someone would think about me if they didn't know me and just saw my pictures/brief bio. Do I represent myself accurately?
• Poor grammar is a big turnoff for me. (That's no surprise, let's be real.) I mean, we all make mistakes...and I'll probably ironically have a typo somewhere in this post just so the universe can spite me. But...some of us make more mistakes than others. Moving onnnn.
• I'm paranoid I'll match with someone who I end up working with at a future job. Don't get me wrong, it would be hilarious. "Hi, deskmate. I'm glad we find each other attractive." Team unity, right off the bat.
• I get most excited when I see someone I know on there. I want to swipe right just to say hello, even though I could say hello in real life. So maybe I'm missing the point. Shrug?

The funny part for me, still, (and what I expected I would encounter) is that I'm not sure what to do with myself when I match with someone. I'm just not fully sold on the idea that random virtual chatting is for me. I have all these matches sitting in my inbox and only one of them has said anything to me. And now...? Am I supposed to talk first? Or do we just go silently on our way, enjoying the fact that we just validated each other? How does this work?

Basically these are my feelings:

via

...bahaha. Like I said, good adventure. Stories to come, I'm sure.

Do you Tinder?

TED Talk: How I Hacked Online Dating

I've had some conversations lately about online dating.

If you've been around this blog since last year, you know I tried online dating for like....a month...last December. I've had two good friends get married off eHarmony this year, so I'm not a disbeliever in online dating by any means. But, I'm not convinced it's for me. For one thing, both those marriages resulted from long-distance dating. Let me tell you, long-distance dating is.....not my strength. Let's put it that way.

Recently I had all these crazy thoughts about doing an experiment in which I try out different dating sites (even Tinder, the infamous people-swear-by-it-but-I'm-not-convinced-it-wouldn't-make-me-feel-like-a-cheap-piece-of-meat app) and then blog about my preconceived notions and whether or not they were proven true. I don't know, that blog experiment is still up for debate. (Not fully convinced it wouldn't just stress me out.) (But it could be good for me.) (Would you read it?)

So, it was timely when I came across this amazingly funny TED Talk about how this woman hacked online dating.

Not saying I'm planning on doing any hacking, but this woman is smart and hilarious. I wish I had been there in person to laugh in the audience until I cried. There's just something about her that I relate to! So if you have a little less than 20min to kill, perhaps something to watch during lunch or before bed, here you have it! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

he told me i was hotter than the sun

so i've officially been exploring this whole online dating thing for a week now.

and what has come of it?

several odd people, a couple normal people, and many laughable moments.

...so, pretty much what i expected!

 [via]

favorite moments of the week:

1. the artist who told me i'm stunning and asked if he could paint me.

2. the 40-yr-old man who said i'm hot enough to make the sun jealous.

3. the guy who told me i'm beautiful and we'd have beautiful children together.

kudos to them all for the ballsy approaches, eh?

i'm confident they will each find a lady who wants what they have to offer.

but i'm probably not that girl.

fail of the week:

the fella who said my bachelor's degree (family & human development) sounded like the kind of degree girls go to school for because they aren't married yet.

mmmmmscuse me?

i have had a couple normal encounters, on a better note.

i might even meet one of them in person soon.

you know, safely in a public place because that's how this is done.

and yes my palms are already sweating but ima be brave because that's what i do.

a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils,

welcome to the mysterious world of online dating

people ask me all the time if i've considered online dating.

truthfully, lately a lot of my friends have taken to this modern endeavor.

and several of them have found success!

one example of success:

[via]

what? of course i'm friends with tom and meg. clearly.

my initial concerns:

Q: would it be embarrassing if people i know see me on there?

A: duh, that means they're on there too. 

besides, i'm blogging about it so now you all know anyway. FULL DISCLOSURE, PEOPLE.

Q: does online dating make you seem desperate?

A: eh, i wouldn't label most of my friends as desperate who are using it.

Q: is it unromantic to meet someone online?

A: i figure that's just step one. you still get to build the rest of the story in-person, e.g. first date, etc.

Q: can't people just tell dirty lies and hide behind the internets?

A: maybe, but people can lie in person too. i figure it's similar to going on a blind date -- you still figure out what you need to know after meeting in person. i'll be a smart cookie and only meet them in a public place, i won't be handing out my address or social security # or anything.

as you know, i found myself recently single again.

and all my online-dater friends were like, "do it katie! do it!"

and then i got a fever all weekend.

and after lying in bed for like 3 solid days, something crazy came over me.

and now i have an online dating profile? how did that happen?

germs, was that you?

but you know...i figure it can't hurt. i'm sure good stories will come of this.

and if i hate it, i'll break the wrist and walk away.

and it asks me important questions such as:

If I had my choice of the following options, I would live...

duh, tree house.

So uh....here we go?

what about you? your thoughts on online dating?

please let this be like tom hanks & meg ryan!