Are you 'catfishing' on Tinder?
- kristineholm92
- Oct 17, 2016
- 2 min read
Dating has become one of the newest digitized elements of social interaction. Where there used to be awkward, intoxicated conversations at pubs and bad pick up lines at coffee shops, there is now ‘right swipes’ and ‘super likes’.
The major dating apps for smartphones are Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and Fish for Androids; with an estimated 50 million users on Tinder.
However, have dating apps and online dating changed the face of courtship and our digital identity with our controlled and polished ‘profile’ as the main point of attraction?
Claudia Matthews, a 21-year-old Bumble and Tinder user, says “Of course I have my most attractive photos on my profile, not the candid ones of me without makeup or studying. That’s just not what guys are looking for on a dating app.”
“You form the first impression right off the back of these self-made profiles, similar to Facebook and Instagram, no-ones sees the normal, everyday you,” says Dr. Bridianne O’Dea, a post-doctoral researcher at the Black Dog Institute.
However, there are of course the success stories of social media dating apps.
Joe Daley and Amanda Kerr, both 24, met each other on Tinder a year and a half ago.
“Amanda and I were chatting on Tinder for a day or two before we started texting and calling for a week, and then we met up.” Daley says.
Dr O’Dea claims that social media and dating apps in an undeniable factor to the growing ‘hook-up’ culture that is corrupting society and users' self perception.
“It’s this quick and effortless ability to get unattached ‘hook-ups’ which forces users to create very polished and fake versions of themselves, in order to seek validation from these strangers”, Dr O’Dea says.
‘Catfishing’ is a common issue that occurs on social media. Urban Dictionary defines a ‘catfish’ as someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media platforms to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.
Daley reported being catfished by another Tinder user in 2014, “she was completely the opposite to what was in the photos, she had photos of a short blonde girl and she was a tall, red-head with adult braces.”
O’Dea believes that the artificial production of online identities could take their toll on user’s self perception and trust in other online users in the future.
