Yesterday, on a whim, I downloaded all the popular dating apps. Bumble, Hinge, Tinder… all the classics. Part boredom, part curiosity — I think. And so much has changed in the world of online dating. When I first moved to Melbourne, back in , it was all about Tinder.
Not only was it the only dating app anyone talked about, but it was actually great. But as other apps began to come onto the scene with question prompts, and heights and other info displayed on profiles, Tinder began to fade into the background.
In my world, online dating became something to do when I was on the loo, or bored waiting for the tram. I stopped swiping with excitement of possibly being able to meet someone fabulous, and started doing it to get a quick validation fix. It became like those days when you go shopping and you really want to find a cute outfit but nothing is quite looking right, so you settle for something sub-par and convince yourself it looks amazing because you just need to get what you came for.
And I did. So much has changed about online dating — and dating in general — since I was last on the apps, as a single person open to anything. The conversations around sexual fluidity, open relationships structures and gender, have made a bigger impact on dating apps than I was expecting. It definitely offers a different swiping experience from what I endured five years ago when there was really only a name, photos and an age to each person online.
I never got a full read on someone but just looking at their profile. People are surprisingly more open and vulnerable, and that makes them muuuuch hotter. The first conversation I had, was with a year-old guy on Bumble, about why he was on the app. He said:. Safe to say, I was deeply impressed. First, at his honesty, and second, at his openness.
