After exploding in popularity the past couple years, the dating app Tinder might be losing steam on MSU’s campus.
“It could have been more than this, but I think it is a fad now,” general management sophomore Chase Pouliot said.
Tinder losing steam on MSU's campus
He said Tinder once was an effective means of someone getting what they want romantically.
“If you wanted a date, you could easily set that up,” Pouliot said. “If you wanted something with no strings attached, you were able to do that.”
Now, to many people, the app has become less about dating and hooking up and more about joking around.
“You would see profiles where it was just pictures of laundry machines and it would say, ‘come throw your dirty laundry in me,'” Pouliot said.
Pouliot’s frustrations might be inherent in Tinder’s design.
“One of the problems with Tinder is that it isn’t clear what it actually is,” Stephanie Amada, a writing, rhetoric and American culture professor at MSU’s Center for Gender in Global Context and an expert on hookup culture, said.
Amada said Tinder’s users tend to seek out hookups, relationships and often simple entertainment.
Part of Tinder’s appeal is that at it’s core, the app is built like a game, she said.
“It even says when you match with someone, ‘do you want to message them or keep playing?'” Amada said.
Tinder’s game-like design might also limit its ability to create long-term, romantic relationships.
“On Tinder, it’s just being liked based on does somebody like how you look in your picture," she said.
Other students shared Pouliot’s frustration with Tinder’s perceived ineffectuality.
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“If you’re looking for something serious, don’t go on Tinder,” journalism junior Kayla Robinson said.
Robinson said she went on a few dates with people she met through the app. But she said she didn't have a good experience with it.
Amada said what further steers some women away from the app is the phenomenon of male users sending women vulgar or suggestive messages.
Additionally, Robinson said the anonymity can serve as somewhat of shield for senders.
“There are horny guys and pretty girls, so they are going to say whatever," Robinson said.
Tinder’s promise of anonymity and playful design might also decrease feelings of rejection for users.
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“I think that is a big part of it’s popularity,” Amada said.
