I so want to ‘left swipe’ this app
then finds potential “matches” nearby. If someone takes your fancy, you swipe right to like them and left to pass. If they have also “liked” you, Tinder then allows users to connect. In short, a bit like visiting the infamous Clatty Pat’s nightclub – but without the sticky floors and negotiated from the comfort of your own sofa.
Such is the burgeoning popularity of Tinder, it has already spawned its own vocabulary including “Tindering” (looking for a match); “Tinderscriminate” (unfussy about whom they date); Tinderella (an attractive woman); and the dreaded “left swipe” (rejection). Amusingly, Tinder hasn’t reacted well to the Vanity Fair piece. It seems hell hath no fury like an app scorned – or rather its social media team.
A series of heated tweets were fired off defending the millions of matches that had been made through the app. The company later admitted it “overreacted”. To be frank, it all sounds a bit clinical. And woefully sad. People used to laugh at men who married mail order brides from Russia. Now we have the ability to bag a date in between checking our lottery numbers, booking a dentist appointment and doing a weekly online shop at Waitrose.
Love is a battlefield as Pat Benatar once sang, but Tinder and other apps in the same vein are the Trojan horse of romance. Call me old fashioned, but I’m actually quite glad I did my courting in simpler times when landlines were still in vogue and text messaging in its infancy. Waiting with bated breath for the phone to ring sure beats the toe-curling scenario of someone giving as much thought and consideration to swiping left or right on your profile as they would browsing the burger menu of a fast-food outlet.
Imagine if, back in the 1980s, Tomorrow’s World had predicted that in the future there would be a handheld mobile device on which you could chose a future partner at the touch of a button? You can keep your meal-in-a-pill, Sinclair C5, Betamax video and creepy Tinder app.
‘‘ Love is a battlefield but Tinder and other apps in the same vein are the Trojan horse of romance