{"id":196,"date":"2017-01-22T16:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/?p=196"},"modified":"2017-01-22T13:13:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T13:13:00","slug":"ive-got-new-tinder-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/2017\/01\/22\/ive-got-new-tinder-match\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ve Got A New Tinder Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve got a new match on tinder!\u201d is becoming an increasingly familiar sound. Online dating is now more popular than ever and has transfixed modern society. Driving the traditional method of meeting someone in the real world to extinction, online dating is becoming increasingly accepted as a way to meet a potential future spouse. The Guardian\u2019s David Cox suggests that<\/a><\/p>\n

today, as many as one in five relationships are believed to begin online<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what effects could mixing the online world and our relationships have?<\/p>\n

Online dating has sky-rocketed in popularity (By Santeri Viinam\u00e4ki, CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re looking to join the world of online dating, there are certainly no shortage of places to sign up. \u201cMatch.com<\/a>\u201d and \u201cPlentyOfFish<\/a>\u201d have proven to be the most popular internet-based sites, attracting an estimated 58 million combined monthly visits<\/a>. Alongside these, and leading the way in the world of mobile apps is Tinder.\u00a0The dating app revolves\u00a0around the aim of \u2018matching\u2019 with other users by swiping left or right on their profile. Swipe left if you don’t want to match, swipe right if you do… it’s that simple. The app, which has been downloaded over 100 million times<\/a>, has joined the ranks of online platforms evolving the way relationships are formed.<\/p>\n

The dating app Tinder has millions of active users worldwide (Image by Tinder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what effects<\/a> can online dating have?<\/h4>\n

In general, dating online before meeting with someone in real life puts less pressure on the first meetup. Meeting someone can be nerve-wracking at the best of times, let alone with the added pressure of a potential relationship. Getting to know someone online before meeting can ease the pressure and make for a better date in general.<\/p>\n

Dating websites, in general, match people based on the similarities between their personalities, interests, behavioural patterns etc\u2026 The dating website eHarmony<\/a> boasts a 29 degree of compatibility, aimed at matching people who are \u201ctruly compatible\u201d. The results of using this method\u00a0are clear, with eHarmony creating over 400,000 successful relationships<\/a>.<\/p>\n

eHarmony is one of the UK’s most popular online dating websites (Image by eHarmony)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, it\u2019s not all fun and games<\/h4>\n

Like most things, online dating comes with it\u2019s flaws and dangers. \u201cCatfishing<\/a>\u201d \u00a0is a term used when\u00a0someone creates a false online persona, for destructive and harmful purposes. The unfortunate truth of the situation is that, every now and then, \u2018catfishing\u2019 can lead to horrific cases, such as Gayle Newland\u2019s repeated sexual assault<\/a> on an unnamed woman. That being said, such cases are extremely rare, with sites such as eHarmony and match.com taking care to prevent similar incidents happening.<\/p>\n

As mentioned previously, online dating sites use compatibility scales to ensure people are matched with someone they have a chance of creating a successful relationship with. Sadly however, this isn\u2019t entirely foolproof. As Dr. Key Sun<\/a>\u00a0writes for Psychology Today<\/a>,<\/p>\n

everyone wants to make the self appear as attractive as possible to potential dates by exaggerating the self desirable traits<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ultimately, people lie or exaggerate about themselves, in a bid to make themselves more desirable to others. This inevitably results in a failed attempt at a relationship.<\/p>\n

But what pressures do these internet based platforms put on real life relationships?<\/p>\n

I spoke to student Catherine Goss to find out.<\/h4>\n
Student Catherine Goss has long stopped using the popular dating app Tinder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, the main problem with things like Tinder is that they give you far too much of an ego boost. People are generally much more complimentary online than they are in real life, and it builds up a false image of what being in a real life relationship is like.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Catherine, 19, is a law student at the University of Manchester and has been in a stable relationship for over a year.<\/p>\n

Downloading apps such as tinder must be very tempting for some people because they\u2019re so accessible. Without physically cheating on a partner, people can swipe and match, and it\u2019s an instant confidence boost. It can occasionally tempt people out of happy relationships and into an addiction of “I need as many matches as possible”<\/p>\n

I would also say that society almost frowns upon relationships that started online.\u00a0Forming a relationship online is a very taboo way to do things nowadays<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are good and bad things to take away from online dating. It offers a new and exciting way to meet people and start relationships, especially for those who lack confidence in social situations. It also has the ability to form long lasting, successful relationships. However, along with these internet sites comes downsides and dangers, with people trying to trick others into traps, and lying about themselves in an attempt to find love.<\/p>\n

Yet I believe that online dating is something to be relished. The world is changing faster than ever, and if finding love online works for some people, then we should cherish the successes.<\/p>\n

(Image by unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve got a new match on tinder!\u201d is becoming an increasingly familiar sound. Online dating is now more popular than ever and has transfixed modern society. Driving the traditional method of meeting someone in the real world to extinction, online dating is becoming increasingly accepted as a way to meet a potential future spouse. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[64,16,60,58,61,59,62,63,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/andrewdavies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}