Surprise: You just turned 18. Along with the excitement of voting, buying a lottery ticket and serving on a jury, the birthday brings another exciting choice: Do you dive into dating apps or stick to meeting people in person? Is it possible for these apps to foster real connections, or are they simply a gateway for quick hookups?  

The ‘swipe right or left’ phenomenon took off after Tinder’s launch in 2012. What started out as a shower thought from founder Jonathan Badeen has turned into a core feature of the modern dating scene. Within seconds, users are faced with the decision: do they swipe right or left? Is it possible for these apps to foster real connections, or are they simply a gateway for quick hookups?  

College is one of the few times in life with minimal responsibilities and endless possibilities, making it a popular environment for exploring dating apps. Meeting people online is more common than ever, especially for college students. Sometimes, the person you pass on the way to class might later show up on Tinder as you swipe left or right.

Among the most popular dating apps, Hinge and Tinder offer distinct experiences and cater to different vibes. Known for its “hookup culture” reputation, Tinder has users swipe quickly based on photos and short bios. Hinge, on the other hand, appeals to those seeking more serious connections, offering profile prompts that allow for thoughtful answers and often lead to more meaningful conversations.

After turning 18 in high school, sophomore film major Sam Billok followed the lead of his friends and downloaded Tinder and Hinge. Billok said he downloaded the apps out of curiosity to see what the hype was about. After having the apps for two years, Billok said he prefers Hinge to Tinder.

“[On Tinder,] you really just look at someone and you swipe right or left,” Billok said. “When you match with them, it’s a lot harder to start a conversation with them, because a lot of times when you match with them, it’s in a fake way.”

From Billok’s experience, he’s noticed that after he’s matched with someone on Tinder, they never respond. However, with Hinge, he’s noticed he’s gotten more replies to his messages. 

“On Hinge, you could probably have a boring conversation for two or three days before someone decides to stop responding,” Billok said. 

Billok shares how common it is to get ghosted on the apps, but said you can’t take it personally — even if it sucks.  

Junior psychology major Krystina Slanker downloaded Tinder as a joke with her girlfriends in high school. She didn’t take the app seriously, knowing Tinder’s reputation, but she also downloaded Hinge and began to view it differently after hearing a success story.

“There was this couple that came over to my house for dinner, and they came over for Shabbat dinner with my parents,” Slanker said. “They were saying that they actually met on Hinge. They were a successful couple that got married and everything. And I was like, wait, people actually find their person through this app? So, I was kind of curious. I had the app at the time, but I was like, well, maybe I’ll take this a little more seriously and see if I actually find someone that I’m interested in.”

That summer, after her freshman year, Slanker matched with her current boyfriend on Hinge. Initially, she ignored his messages, but when they returned to campus, he messaged her again, and they set up a date.

“I think it was the second week of school and he asked me on a date and we got sushi,” Slanker said. “We went to Moshi Moshi in Brickell. It was really good. I was surprised because it’s funny, I remember leaving for that date and just kind of thinking, ‘Oh, this is just another date,’ You know? It’s not going to be anything special. Dating is fun, but also just some parts are okay. I wasn’t really expecting us to hit it off that quick honestly.”

Slanker hadn’t formed any other deep connections through dating apps before meeting her boyfriend, who was the first guy she introduced to her parents. She feels that Hinge allowed them to connect as people rather than just focusing on hookups.

Senior public relations major Laura Martella downloaded Hinge and Tinder after coming down to Miami from Philadelphia for school to meet new people. One of the reasons that made it more comfortable for her to download the app was doing it with friends. 

“I definitely wouldn’t download a dating app if I didn’t know anybody else on one, just for comfort reasons, but I would say that definitely the people around me who were also on them made me more comfortable in downloading one,” Martella said. 

Martella said she recalls her freshman year as very much of a hookup culture life, which matched Tinder’s reputation. 

“I feel like you’re matching with everybody in your dorm as a freshman, so it makes your first year kind of funny, almost walking around campus and seeing the faces of people that you’ve matched with because there’s so many other freshmen also on the apps,” Martella said.  

As Martella is close to graduating in spring 2025, she made the decision to delete the apps because she said it’s more of an underclassmen type of thing and how shallow some of the apps could be in her opinion. 

“I feel like my frontal lobe is starting to develop in the way that I just want people in a real way, where there’s that initial attraction and have a normal relationship experience,” Martella said. “Two out of my last three relationships were on Tinder and they didn’t work out. I’m not saying that that’s attributed to the fact that I met them on Tinder. It wasn’t like a super negative impact on our relationship, but I just think it’d be cool to meet someone the real way, and especially after having used the apps for the last two years.”

Whether you’re after something casual or searching for a deeper connection, dating apps can be a helpful tool. However, if you’re craving a more organic experience, it might be worth looking up from the screen and exploring what — or who — might be waiting in your everyday surroundings.

words_ariella green. illustration_andres alessandro. design_lizzie kristal.

This article was published in Distraction’s Winter 2024 print issue.

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