By Mark Wadland
For millennials, Tinder reigns in the vast, unknown and sometimes downright frightening world of online dating.
Swiping left to avoid matching with a guy who you doubt you could stand talking to for 60 seconds, and then swiping right hoping you’ll match with a girl whose eyes you could stare into for hours on end – this is the essence of Tinder.
Finally, after swiping right perhaps 100 times, you match with someone, and can now initiate a
conversation with him or her. This is when you must bring your A-game, because that first message might very well determine whether the conversation continues.
Though Tinder has many funny aspects to it, this one requires a combination of wit, humor and luck that some cannot boast.
At this point, your looks have, to some degree, helped you. In this first message to the person you want to talk to, however, your sense of humor and/or creativity (or lack thereof) will reveal itself and, ultimately, make or break your chances of building a relationship with this person.
You’re essentially marketing yourself to another person, saying, “Here is what I have to offer. This is why you should talk to me,” through comedy, wit or some other creative message.
I had an account on Tinder for three days. At first, it was fun to see people I knew, but once I received a few “Hellos” and “How are you’s?” I became bored. I thought, “With so many words in the English language, you must be able to come up with something more intriguing than “What’s up?”
Dating has transformed – regrettably – from face-to-face encounters to the equivalent of purchasing goods at a market. It is as though people no longer use the creative part of their brains when communicating with others, and Tinder – at least for millennials – leads the charge in dumbing down today’s future leaders until the word “original” disappears from memory.