I love the honesty of myself, which is why I can say without hesitation that a lot of online dating sites or apps like Tinder are there for specific types of people. And by specific types I mean certain adjectives that could accurately describe the sheep-mentality of those who will try anything just because it's available to do. The entire concept of posting a picture of yourself, photoshopped selfies or not, in a public sphere, and in hopes that someone will decide that you are attractive enough to "try on" like shoes ordered online, is frightening. It's a generation of disposable dating. Swipe, swipe, swipe, move on to the next one selling themselves. It's the greatest deception in that one can find real companionship by flipping through a catalogue of like minded people. Actually, that makes sense. Like minded people on apps like Tinder will find something in common with eachother. Like prefering convenience, and quantity over quality.
I heard a story once, of a Western Muslim man visiting the Sahara desert to meet some Bedouin. One night, the man and his friend brought a Bedouin back to the shelter they were staying in. A television was on in a corner of the room. Upon seeing it, the Bedouin quickly turned his head away. You have never seen a television before, the Westerner remarked to him. Aren't you curious to experience it? The Bedouin replied, I have heard there are bad things in them, and I don't want to let them into my heart.
Why is that a great story? It is unique and meaningful. I often think the Bedouin's response sums up how the vast majority of people are dismissive of what they allow themselves to absorb. How does something affect your well-being? Your respect for self? Your conscience? Your autonomy? Your values?
The vapid article itself says a lot about the narcissism involved in the social networking/dating craze in recent times. The writer, an avid Tinder user who rattles off a number of requirements in order for a guy on Tinder to be approved by her, and who is also in therapy (like most Americans) writes, "what was great about Tinder was the lack of risk. Not having to face my crippling social phobia and fear of rejection is the appealing factor here." Yes, if it's one thing we know it's that people are now more comfortable communicating with others through a screen, grasping onto a false sense of intimacy. Through a screen, your true flaws are veiled, airbrushed, nonexistant. A person becomes distorted and misleading. And when you lose a grip on reality, and the self, you become soulless, and forget how to truly live as a human being. Hence, the drugs, the depression, the loss of control. The inflated sense of self people like the writer possess is a bit of a paradox. She has a checklist in which she judges people on an app that can best be equated to scrounging for fast food in a dumpster, and then complains about having no luck in meeting the right person.
This comment in the discussion section of the article sums it all up plainly :
" Life is so vacuous isn't it? To have to resort to such means for what? Really there must be more to life than just finding ways like this to entertain yourself until the end. "
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