One of the most debated and most downloaded apps in the iTunes store right now is the app Tinder. The online dating app has found itself a target of criticism time and time again since its original launch date back in August of 2012. Many people argue that Tinder acts as superficial method of meeting people who are not at all looking for a serious relationship. However, there is a percentage of tinder users who swear that Tinder is an app that is just as serious as the next dating site. Eli J Finkel, author of "In Defense of Tinder," attempts to do just what the title implies - defend Tinder to be a serious mode of dating. Finkel directly claims that Tinder could be considered the best dating site in today's society and can used for finding both serious relationships and casual sex.
Online dating is not a new concept to the technological world. It has been around for awhile through sites such as typical eHarmony and specific sites such as Christian Mingle. The goal of these sites is to help people find their "perfect" match. There are many aspects of online dating that one does not have when they date normally. For instance, one has a much bigger pool of people to choose from through online dating. There are endless websites that are created to find people all around the globe. However, the lack of face to face contact is evident in online dating. The lack of on spot communication is often beneficial to some people. If someone was on a date in real life, they have to hold a conversation for an hour. But what takes a normal date an hour to talk about could be elongated to a day in an online relationship. This is because when maintaining a conversation online, one has time to process, think about, and choose their words carefully in a conversation as opposed to normal fluid conversation. Furthermore, people may prefer online dating over regular dating because they are able to pick and choose aspects of themselves they wish to highlight. Whether it be filtered photographs or lying biographies, people can make themselves as great as they would like to be on the online world and the other person would know no different.
Tinder, according to Finkel, is no different than any other dating website except for the fact that it has adapted to society. Finkel freely admits the superficiality of Tinder - after all, one is judging their potential future partner off of a couple pictures and 140 characters. In fact, he also acknowledges the app to be a "hook-up" app. However, he argues that this is what makes Tinder so great. In today's age, he claims that most relationships start off a hookup and then develop into a relationship. Tinder, of course, makes it a perfect candidate for this common type of relationship. Often times people say that technology changes society, but perhaps it is not technology changing society's values, but instead trying to adapt to it.
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