To Tinder or not to Tinder?

A few weeks ago, I was out to dinner with a group of 5 platonic friends. 3 guys and 3 girls. Naturally the topic of dating came up. I was shocked to find out that 3 of the people at our table were Tinder users. What is Tinder? You might ask. It is defined as a phone app that shows a picture of a person and you can swipe left and "nope" them or swipe right and "like" them. It's based off of physical attraction and geographic location alone and totally shallow. Once "liking" a person, you can begin messaging them if and only if the said person "likes" you back.
With limited resources for dating these days, I found myself asking 'Is this what it's come to?' I questioned the Tinder regulars at the table and heard both positive and negative feedback. I've heard stories from other people about how they met their boyfriend, husband, dog sitter, etc.. on Tinder. I figured what do I have to lose? Curiosity got the best of me and I ended up downloading and signing up for the app that night.
I was pleasantly surprised to have well over 80 "matches" within the first few days. It was a definite ego boost. My superficial high was short-lived when I soon realized that most of my Tinder "matches" were not however matches. Based on only looks alone, there's no way to filter the intentions of other Tinder users. I've found certain users range from wanting to show me their penis, to wanting to marry me and knock me up within 30 minutes of messaging.
Weeding out the duds takes time and effort. Online "dating" could be like a part time job if you let it... but I was willing to give it a go... At this point I figure it can't get much worse. My friends have always gotten a kick out of my dating life and have repeatedly told me that I should start blogging about it. Dating to me is so personal and I have chosen in the past to not put it out there...but there are just too many idiots to not share the stories. Without further ado, it is my pleasure to bring to you a new series, ' The Tinder Diaries '. Consider me like the Taylor Swift of Tinder and get ready, because I'm putting it all out there, which I realize some people may not appreciate, but to those people I say 'Whatever'. I hope you enjoy. Stay tuned......

                                                                             XOXO