[one_half]Overrated – Isaac Scafe

Welcome to the world of mobile dating apps. Join the millions of people who use the internet, hoping for new love. No longer do you need to go around town, trying to woo every person you see. Now, you can just stay at home and ‘swipe’ through potential candidates to win your heart. Except it’s not that easy. 

It seems like everyone is in a rush trying to meet that special one in their life. And for some, dating apps are the answer for them. All they have to do is list some interests they have and a match is made. Even though dating apps are a nice way to meet new people, simply listing things that you like and dislike isn’t always a surefire way to find love. Relationships are more than just liking the same things and there is more to love than just your zodiac sign. You may find someone attractive based on the pictures that they post on their profile, but appearances shouldn’t be the reason why you start talking to someone. 

In the same vein, not everything that is posted online is true. From fake job listings to fake news circulating the web, you can’t trust everything that’s on the web—and that even includes people’s dating profiles. Sure, maybe listing the fact that you’re 6’0 and not 5’7 isn’t a big issue, but sometimes people go as far as to lie about their age, their appearances and their intentions just for the opportunity to meet you, and you never know who you’re going to meet until you’re finally face to face with them. 

Dating apps pose as an opportunity for people to step out of their comfort zones and meet other people. But, dating apps have lost some meaning over the past couple of years. People are no longer searching for someone to have a meaningful relationship with. Users are just looking to spend a few minutes with someone to appease their infatuation with them, then days later, you never talk to the person again. While the person on your phone screen can be appealing, meeting a stranger on the internet is overrated? 

[one_half]Underrated – Daniil Ivanov

Dating apps seem at a glance to be a naive and superficial form of human interaction and match-making. I for one do not use dating apps because I do not think that it is the best way to get into a long-term relationship. 

However, prior to dating apps single people would meet each other at bars and clubs and other public meeting places. You see someone from across the room and evaluate how they look and how they’re dressed: the outward projection that the person has decided to portray. If you like them, you go up and talk to them, and if they like your carefully selected outfit choice and what your face looks like then maybe you get to go spend a night with them. If that night went well, then maybe you get a second date and start finding out who this stranger is. 

There’s also the sexual orientation aspect: different apps and app settings will act like the gay clubs and other processes that allow people to seek out the partner of their preferred gender and potentially stops awkward situations. 

A dating app like Tinder accomplishes the same superficial glance at a person that going out does, except now you also get a brief synopsis about what age they want you to think they are and what interests they want you to know about. Those dating apps are no different than what we’ve been doing for generations, except now we can do it digitally. 

If you want to argue about hook-up culture or if you can find true love through an app, that’s a different argument. But, compared to the equally superficial, late-night, bar’s closing and I need a date gawking that dating apps are a substitute for, they for sure are a step up.