Image Credit: seaofhearts.com

There comes a time when a fad peaks your interest and you become a statistic.

You can’t say this hasn’t happened to you…Facebook anyone?

A little while ago I became a statistic of the relatively new Tinder.

What is Tinder you might ask? Tinder is essentially an adult version of Snap. Yes I mean Snap the card game you played as a child, except with Tinder the prize is (hopefully) the man of your dreams.

The concept is very simple and somewhat superficial, but, let’s be honest, if you’re at a bar, you’re not looking at someone’s personality are you?

The app links to your Facebook account and accesses your public photos, first name, age and location. It then adds you to a deck of online cards that potential matches sort through and decide if they ‘heart’ or not. If they do ‘heart’ you and you have ‘hearted’ them in turn, it comes up as a match.

Boom, instant love at first sight!

Once you have been matched, you can chat for free…and then the fun begins!

I was privy to very up front chatting topics on Tinder, with the most commonly asked question being, “So, why are you on here Natalie?”

“Gee *insert male name here* I don’t know, because clearly I feel the need to have riveting chats like this to random men who are within a several kilometre radius of me.”

On the up side, the one week I was on Tinder was actually quite interesting. I had phone conversations with a couple of guys and even went on a date with one who was really lovely but we just didn’t click.

I became addicted to seeing who was nearby though and, at one stage, was unsure how I would remember who I was talking to when I had approximately 20 conversations going at the one time! A good problem to have I decided though!

Ironically, I ended up meeting my beau on RSVP a week after joining Tinder, but here is my verdict on what I will dub “adults-only snap”…just in case you want to give it a go…go on, take a walk on the wild side!

The Tinder Verdict

Tinder is a great way to meet a wide variety of men and chat for free. It is harmless fun that might actually end in finding the love of your life!

There are serious men on there and others who think it’s the straight version of Grindr and that posting pictures of their nether regions and talking about their favourite sexual positions is de rigeur when courting a lady. Block those guys (unless you’re into that sort of thing, in which case go crazy but be safe and tell your friends what you’re doing just in case!) and navigate past them to the men who are actually looking for their Mrs Right.

There were surprising quite a few on there and, had I not met my current beau so early in the piece on another dating site, I would have gone on a few more dates.

Most of all, enjoy meeting these people whom you may not normally come across. You might make a new friend on the path to Mr Right…