Long gone are the days of chance encounters and romantic run ins. Tinder, a dating app now spreading internationally like wildfire, is setting new norms when it comes to finding love abroad.
What first was seen by many as a “hookup app” launched in 2011 on college campuses in the United States has long evolved into a full blown dating tool used all around the world. From the United States all the way to Spain, Tinder dates between traveling students or voyaging business men have become nothing out of the ordinary and have essentially put a whole new twist on the concept of a blind date.
The app works as follows: You link the app to your Facebook account, select a few pictures, write a short bio and the race to finding your match begins. Tinder provides users with a list of people within a set radius and users can swipe left (not interested) or swipe right (interested). If both parties swipe right, they each appear as a “match” and are given the opportunity to chat and get to know one another. If you or the other person swipes left, they are sent into cyber space and never seen again.
Many suggest that this “swipe right, swipe left” feature is what makes the app so enticing. Users are able to express interest without direct rejection. If the other person is not interested, he/she will never know that you showed interest to begin with. The thrill of waiting to see if a match will appear is what keeps users such as Maribel Alcazar coming back for more.
“I kind of see it as a game” Alcazar says, “The guys I think are attractive I just swipe right and hope they swipe me right too. But I’m never nervous because if they don’t like me back they’ll never know I liked them to begin with. It’s actually a really fun game.”
Alcazar is studying abroad in Madrid from California and says that she has actually found Tinder to be more popular here than in the United States. “It’s a great way to meet people abroad and get suggestions on where to go out, where to eat and what to visit” she explains, “And hey, if I grab a drink with someone along the way, I see no harm in that.”
According to the New York Times, an estimated 50 million people use Tinder every month and the app makes on average 12 million matches each day. That means 12 million opportunities for a love story to be made on Tinder each and every day.
Although some might be hesitant to hop on the Tinder bandwagon, the statistics say it all. The app has proven for many to be a great way to delve into the local dating culture and who know’s, you might just board your plane back home with your very own Tinder love story.