I Thoroughly Dislike Tinder

I have installed Tinder and tried to use it, because I am studying abroad (Nagoya, Japan) and meeting new people is hard. And I have to say, I really do not enjoy this app.

I don't like the fact that the only two options are "like" and "reject". And then if you hit "reject", they won't show up again. As someone who is terrible at making decisions and frequently changes their mind, I really wish they'd include an "undecided" option, so that you can see the next person while knowing you'll have another opportunity to make a decision about the current person.

And then there's the fact that you really can't judge someone based on appearance and bio alone. Granted, it's good for filtering out people who are definitely not your type (for instance, beards are an instant no for me), but other than that I definitely feel like it encourages shallowness. Especially with the whole instant gratification of it all, when you're being shown one face after another in a manner akin to Instagram reels, where you're being pressured to make a decision as soon as possible because you're curious to see the next person, it is really easy to be very shallow when making such decisions.

While I have never been in an irl relationship, I feel like there have been situations where I have caught feelings for someone. In some cases they were certainly my "type", physically speaking. However, there were also cases where they initially would not have been the "type" that I would have swiped right on had I seen them on Tinder, but rather became more attractive to me over time due to mannerisms, personality, etc..

I am not saying this to be all like "women aren't shallow they don't care about physical appearance the way men do" because that's bullshit. I just think it's harder to capture male attractiveness in a still image, and unreasonable to expect women to make a fair judgement based on said image. This honestly sucks for both parties, and is probably keeping a lot of potentially compatible people apart.

I really should find a different way to meet people, but I guess this will suffice for now. Currently, I have my profile set to "looking for friends", so I'm sure most of my responses are going to be from people who are just curious to talk to a foreigner and maybe practice their English. Since I only finished setting up my profile tonight, I should probably give it at least two full days before I make a final judgement.

I guess if I make one decent friend through Tinder it'll be worth it.

They should bring back video dating.

Or maybe I just need to get out more...