Woman only swipes right on dating app Tinder for a week in social experiment
The woman found that many men - who she would usually reject - surprised her with their 'polite' responses
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A woman has detailed her experiences of a week of always swiping right on Tinder.
Journalist Yvette Caster described how she used the dating app – usually associated with casual sex – in order to “meet attractive men who meet my high standards.”
The app connects to a user’s Facebook account, offering individuals the chance to meet possible ‘dates’ from nearby. Profiles consist of a short bio and up to five photographs. Left swipes reject offers, while right swipes allow the users to send one another private messages.
Writing for the Mail Online and Metro, Ms Caster claims she usually only swipes right once every 50 men but admits this strategy usually results in either “sleazy pick-up lines followed by unsolicited pictures or their penis or even indecent videos.”
By “opening the floodgates,” as Ms Caster describes it, she receives scores of messages from different men – and not all are terrible.
“I can't quite believe so many of them are being so polite,” she writes on the fourth day of the experiment, continuing: “Maybe I really could find a boyfriend this way after all.”
Ms Caster goes on three “nice dinner dates” with men from the app, and although none of the men she matches with – or goes on a date with – proves to be “The One” the experiment appears to have changed her mind about the casual dating app.
On the last day she writes on Mail Online: “I did have some lovely evenings - good company and intelligent conversation.” And appears to intimate that she would change her online habits after the experiment.
"If you’re feeling a bit ugly, or just miss flirting, you can do a lot worse than closing your eyes and swiping right," she writes for Metro, also expressing her admiration for "players" dedication to the "admin" of maintaining so many conversations with women online simultaneously.
Tinder was originally piloted on US university campuses before being launched in 2012. Its rapid expansion has seen the popular dating app rocket to an estimated 50 million users communicating in 24 languages.
The company, estimated in 2014 to be worth as much as $1 billion (although some have contradicted these reports), has had a number of controversies in its short history.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments