Let’s not be naive about it. You can get anything you want from a dating site or app. You can find true love, a casual relationship, a one night fling, or an adulterous affair. What are dating sites enabling?
I ask this because I read an interesting article from Vanity Fair called Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse. This article paints a picture of online daters just looking for one-night hook ups instead of long term relationships. The article showcases men bragging about all the women they slept with through dating apps. The women in the article aren’t portrayed too positively either. Vanity Fair particularly targets dating app Tinder, and Tinder isn’t happy with Vanity Fair whatsoever. Tinder’s PR team went on a tweet rampage defending the honor of their app. These tweets say Vanity Fair’s information was based only on 265,000 users, compared to Tinder’s millions, and just assumed that tiny number represented Tinder’s population. Tinder PR reps scolded Vanity Fair for not reaching out to them first, stating, “…that’s what journalist typically do.” Ouch! Tinder’s tweets remind us that people use Tinder for many reasons. While they admit some hook up, they insists the hook up culture has existed way before Tinder.
That Tinder tweet is correct. The hook up culture has been going on since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so. Look at websites like Ashley Madison, which facilitates adulterous relationships. Don’t even get me started of what you can find on Craig’s List. But let’s say all these dating sites stopped. You don’t think people will go to clubs or bars to find hookups? You don’t think people will throw swinger parties in their own home? I laugh when older generations say, “Back in the 1950s or ’60s, nobody had sex until they were married.” Yes people did! It just wasn’t over exposed like it is today. And that’s what these dating sites are doing, whether it’s accidentally or intentionally. They’re bringing to the surface what folks have done since the beginning of time. So what are dating sites really enabling?