Tinder

By Michael Barber & Emily Neels

The younger generations of our society are almost exclusively dedicated to social media, and use it for every aspect of their lives. Although there are many different examples of this idea, Tinder seems to really take this concept and apply it to one of the most “sacred” parts of life: the relationship. Tinder is a dating app that is very popular among people from 18 to 30 years of age; however, it is used mostly for people to meet each other and hook up. Tinder is negatively impacting American society because it reduces the amount of social skills used in someone’s life as well as supports a sexually dishonest lifestyle.

The concept is if two people both like pictures of each other, they can message each other and then keep advancing in communication if they desire too. According to businessinsider.com, approximately 85% of Tinder’s users are between the ages of 18 and 34. This is a huge portion of the users and shows that the app is widely used by younger generations of people. This makes it easier for the younger generations to find a relationship, without real emotional connection or responsibilities, and just as easy to end it.

Tinder is negatively impacting American society because it is reducing the amount of personal connections between people as well as showing that people do not value monogamy and a long lasting relationship with one person. The way the initial contact starts is by liking only the way a person looks, and after that, you can initiate conversation. This wouldn’t seem terribly negative from just observing how it works, however, the conversation doesn’t consist of “getting to know you” questions. The topic is sex, and considering the amount of connections one person can get are limitless, it can be assumed that sex is a topic that is carried through dozens of conversations. These conversations are happening virtually rather than in person to person contact which further harms our technologically savvy generation in regards to our social skills. There are not many people in our generation that can reasonably go more than a few hours without looking at their phones. Tinder only adds to this problem as well as helps people to shy away from personal contact.

The younger American generation as a whole values having many different options and being able to access them. This is perhaps because we like the appeal of having what appears to be a temporary relationship because the idea of being able to move on to someone better at anytime appeals to the younger generation.  Also, because there is not “friend list” or anything of the like, it is rather simple for people who are in relationships to have a Tinder and have their significant other never find out.  The way the app is set up, a person can like as many people as they desire and therefore talk to and meet as many people as desired as long as they have liked your profile as well.  This contributes to the fact that people don’t want to truly just meet one person, they want the attention from as many people as possible in order to satisfy their narcissistic needs.

If the younger American generations continue to use Tinder, and the values associated with Tinder, society will continue to trend towards less successful marriages. Furthermore, the social skills that are lost from using Tinder are needed for more than just dating.  People with better developed social skills excel in many jobs and other areas of their lives as well. American society is being negatively impacted by Tinder because it neglects person to person contact in a dating format and helps to support a sexually dishonest lifestyle.