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Feb 02, 2024

A guide and review of dating apps

Now that everyone’s settled in on campus and the Hokie Bird wanders the streets once again, all the hustle and bustle of opening week is done and you’re sitting in your first classes while starting to

Now that everyone’s settled in on campus and the Hokie Bird wanders the streets once again, all the hustle and bustle of opening week is done and you’re sitting in your first classes while starting to get a hang of college life. For many, this is the time when thoughts of romance and relationships hit the air or maybe even just fantasies of a quick hookup. Regardless, you will probably download a dating app at some point.

There’s always the question, however, of which one to choose? Across the market there are hundreds of dating apps, each one promising great matches and boasting about their accessibility. The thing is, corporations lie. A lot. So, it’s probably best that you don’t take what they say hook, line and sinker.

To help you on your journey, I’ve decided to share my own personal opinions on dating apps and which ones I prefer. I’ve developed a bit of a taste for them over the months, partially from trying to figure out how they work and partially from college hormones running rampant.

Now granted, this is only from my perspective as a straight man; things may be very different for you if you are a woman or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. However, hopefully even if you have an entirely different life experience than mine, this will at least help you in some shape or form.

Tinder

Ah, Tinder. The big boy, the king of the dating apps. There are countless stories about Tinder, both a mixture of the good and the bad. You’ve seen the screenshots of creepy matches, the catfishing, and many more horror stories. It has its reputation for a reason.

But in spite of that, it’s undoubtedly the best app out of the bunch. The interface is very aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, while the profiles are simple, yet comprehensive. The color palette makes it instantly recognizable and easy on the eyes as well. The Washington Post describes the interface as, “perfectly constructed to encourage this rapid swiping.”

In terms of matches, this is where I’ve gotten the most. Granted, the quality of said matches is very much a hit or miss; some have led to lovely conversations and dates, while others have led to ghostings and on one occasion, finding out I was being used to cheat on her boyfriend. Overall, however, simply due to the quantity of matches, Tinder is perhaps one of the better apps amid all of them.

Bumble

Bumble is an interesting app, one that’s very much a polar opposite of Tinder. The app’s profiles are “scroll-down” as opposed to “tap to see more.” Also, in contrast to Tinder’s societal expectation that men are expected to talk first, Bumble has a unique mechanic in which women have to send the first message, otherwise the match goes away after 24 hours.

In a strange way, this does ensure a more quality standard of matches. From my experience, women you match with are much more likely to want to speak with you and are more invested as opposed to an app such as Tinder. Indeed, all of my matches have been very pleasant to talk to and I felt like I was able to connect much more than many of my Tinder matches. A downside, unfortunately, is that matches are less common and sometimes, even if you do match, they don’t reply and thus the match expires.

Whether you think it’s better or worse than Tinder is up to you and your own preferences. For me, I view the two as companions, different in their own ways, but each with their own strengths.

Hinge

There’s an air of professionalism, of sleekness on Hinge that makes it a very easy app to look at. The bios, while having a “scroll-down” feature like Bumble along with the many prompts, polls, “roses” (similar to a super like) per week and the option to include a comment adds onto the app’s positive qualities.

In terms of matches, the app is somewhat stingy due to the fact that you can only like eight people per day on the free version. Likes are much more careful as opposed to the rest of them, which may mean you don’t get much or any for a while. This does mean, however, that there’s a smaller chance of getting an unenthusiastic match or ghosted. It’s not a definitive zero percent chance, however; I’ve been ghosted a few times.

Basically, Hinge is a solid app that should definitely be on your list.

OkCupid

Oh boy, where to start? OkCupid is perhaps one of the least well known out of the mainstream dating apps and unfortunately it shows. While I have gotten a nice number of matches with a couple decent people to talk to, the app itself is a bit of a mess. The design feels very cramped, and a sense of claustrophobia permeates throughout. Not only that, but because the app allows you to set your location, there’s a lot of people either catfishing you from other countries or clogging up your area despite living thousands of miles away.

That being said, there are diamonds in the rough. The app, much like Hinge, allows you to leave a comment before you like and there’s a super like that you get once a week. OkCupid also has a very extensive profile creation with a pretty helpful “percent compatibility” statistic that displays prominently on the profile, allowing you to avoid wasting your time on potential bad matches.

A mixed bag overall and a good tool to have, but perhaps not the one you want to rely on.

Of course, this is all from my own personal experience and may not be relevant to everyone. Some people will have better experiences on certain apps, others will have worse than I had. It all depends on the individual and their own circumstances.

But for me, the best combo is all of them. After all, more apps mean more swiping and more of a chance for a match. If I had to pick a favorite, however, I'd choose Tinder simply because of the well-done interface and the quantity of matches.

Regardless, have fun and good luck swiping!

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