As all of you may know, sac.media is our new, super trendy digital media platform designed to tell news in an edgy way millennials can connect with.
So what happens when I see Tinder + Spotify come up as a trending topic on Facebook? I decide to write about it, giving it a fun and crazy spin.
Except I’m not fun and crazy. Uh oh.
Just for a bit of context, Tinder and Spotify have partnered up to spice up your online dating experience — you can now feature an anthem on your profile and swipe to see who has a similar music taste. Pretty smart, am I right? Music is a huge part of people’s lives and meeting someone who likes the kind of music you like makes you do that dorky little dance.
Genius idea? From a millennial’s standpoint, albeit an unorthodox one, YES YES YES.
Except I’m so against Tinder. And I’m so not mainstream. And I’m introverted. Triple uh oh.
Just a lil’ story about me: One time I was manning a booth and someone asked me to play some music on the loudspeakers and I was spazzing out because my Spotify is filled with all the songs millennials don’t listen to. Like, OMG PLS NO.
But y’know, this is just an experiment.
It’s going to be okay.
I took a deep breath, downloaded the app and made an account.
My settings:
1. Search distance is 20 miles.
2. Ages are from 18–24.
2016 Sep 26 — DAY ONE:
I tapped on the Tinder app and begrudgingly started to swipe. Left, left, left, left… BOOM, blue star. I was so confused about the super like, I let my hand wander and swiped right. “It’s a Match!” popped up and I was still confused. Um, what do I do now?
I was obviously supposed to send him a message, but I wasn’t a thoughtful person and I never did send him one. Whoops, sorry Nathan.
On second thought, I don’t think the Spotify thing was working too well. He definitely didn’t look like someone who enjoys listening to Beethoven or Josh Groban. I mean, I do have Michael Bublé’s Christmas album on my Spotify and listen to it religiously, but he doesn’t look like a Bublé fan…
2016 Sep 27 — DAY TWO:
Hi, Andy. Nice picture. Sorry, gonna have to swipe left.
All I do with Tinder is open it up several times throughout the day and swipe left, left, left… I want to quit. Can I uninstall the app already?
2016 Sep 28— DAY THREE:
HAHAHA, omg. I don’t know about you, but I found this super hilarious. Honestly speaking, I wanted to quit this experiment only after the second day, but thanks to Kevin, I decided to pull through and give Tinder another chance.
But again, focusing on the Tinder + Spotify partnership, I don’t think it’s making any difference on who’s being shown to me to swipe.
2016 Sep 29 — DAY FOUR:
Okay, I cheated. I was really busy and Tinder was the last thing on my mind. But I remembered about it right before 12 a.m. and I did change my anthem from Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” to Bublé’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” I can listen to Christmas music anyplace, anywhere, anytime.
But anyway. I shall do better tomorrow.
2016 Sep 30— DAY FIVE:
Nice to know, Andrew. I love how you took the time to explain why you super liked me.
People on Tinder are pretty funny. Honestly, I’m thinking about keeping this app on my phone for entertainment purposes. But my parents would SO disapprove. So, nah.
2016 Oct 1— DAY SIX:
It’s finally October, and FINALLY the second last day of my experiment. I was feeling extra happy, and so I spent more time than usual on Tinder.
I matched with this guy named Sojin. No, he isn’t my type, I just felt like it was only right for me to actually talk to someone. Just FYI.
I decided to shoot him a message first, and sent him an innocent “Hi Sojin!” He responded pretty fast, and it was harmless, small talk at first.
Sojin: Hii! What r u doing today??
Me: I’m going to be at school until about 4:30 today.
Stuff like that. Then this:
Uh, ha ha. I wasn’t expecting that at all. Taken aback, I responded that I don’t, and that I never have.
Then this:
Okay, whoa. Clearly, Sojin definitely wasn’t a guy I was looking for. I informed him — politely — that I haven’t, and that I don’t plan on ever going.
To his credit, he was very polite and non-judgmental, so I was left only with a feeling of amusement. There wasn’t a bad aftertaste, thanks to him.
We ended it on a good note:
2016 Oct 2— DAY SEVEN:
I didn’t touch my phone until after I came back home from church. In the evening, I turned on my phone, opened up the app, and had a brief swiping sesh. Done.
I unlinked my Spotify, Instagram and Facebook from Tinder and then uninstalled the app from my phone. Good riddance.
By the way, I think the Spotify partnership is useless. It took a week to change how I felt about it from “Wow, genius!” to “Ehh…” It didn’t work, at least for me.
After seven days of being a passive Tinder user, I still don’t get it. Why do so many people use it? How do they use it? Why the blue star? Why the Spotify partnership? It’s like French when I first started taking classes… HELP, WHAT’S GOING ON?!
#nocomprendo, literally. But frankly, I don’t really care. I won’t be going back for more anytime soon.
