Ask Dating Guy: Can I Really Find True Love Using Dating Apps?

Ask Dating Guy is a weekly relationship column written by a mysterious Toronto-based man who believes anonymity is of the utmost importance when it comes to the journalistic integrity of advice columnists. How else can he divulge stories about his crazy exes, current lovers, and deal-breaking past relationship mistakes without destroying his romantic prospects for future research? Think about it… and feel free to draw conclusions about who he is, too. If you have a question you’d like Dating Guy to answer in an upcoming column, please send it to: info@viewthevibe.com.

Ask Dating Guy: Can I Really Find True Love Using Dating Apps?

Do you want the truth – and I mean the whole truth – from the perspective of a 30-something year-old straight man who’s been actively using Tinder for over a year? This is going to feel weirdly like I’m writing the Tinder generation’s version of, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”… but here it goes. Yes, millennials, you can find love using dating apps. These days, almost everyone I know is using Tinder – not to mention newcomer dating apps like Hinge, Bagel Meets Coffee, and Bumble – with the same sense of adventure they used to reserve for meeting people in bars, yoga centres, and dog parks. It’s not that tons of people don’t still use dating apps to troll for hookups and f*ck buddies – they do. But they seem to do it in proportion to the number of people who go to bars for the very same reason. That’s because everyone is meeting romantic partners and flings online these days thanks to the mobile revolution. Let me break it down for you…

The stigma is gone
On any given bus ride, look over the shoulder of your fellow passengers and you’ll see people using dating apps with the same casualness they use to peruse Instagram or Facebook. We’re now using mobile devices more than our PCs for all our online needs, according to eMarketer, which means we’ve accidentally normalized online dating simply by doing it outside our homes and in public view. Whether we’re entertaining ourselves on public transit or showing off our online matches to friends at parties, we’re now all aware that searching for love with a lil’ help from the internet is not only totally socially acceptable, it’s also fun and can even be a group activity.

More and more young people are online dating in general
Even a decade ago, online dating seemed like it appealed more to the desperate-to-wed and incredibly lonely than it did to people just looking to have fun dating. That’s clearly not the case anymore. One in five adults between the ages 25 and 34 now use online dating to meet romantic partners, according to a study done by The Pew Research Centre in late 2013. It’s less about seeking Mr. or Mrs. Right, and more about meeting Mr. or Ms. Right Swipe — whether you’re looking for long-term or short-term romance or just seeing who’s out there beyond your own social circle.

There’s a dating app for every personality type
Newly launched Bumble is like Tinder, except the women are in the driver’s seat, and Coffee Meets Bagel is more for the diehard romantics who believe in destiny… or at least monogamy. Then there’s the soon-to-be launched The League, which makes users apply for membership and only allows for “quality” people (think salary, looks, worldly possessions, and the like) to flirt with each other – in other words, it filters out the losers so you don’t have to. Sound harsh? Then don’t use it. And at least you’ll know the type of people who care about that kind of thing will be more inclined to use The League – filtering out your version of a loser from the apps you use. Vv Magazine put together a list of “The Top Dating Apps of 2015,” and I’m a fan of their choices, so check ‘em out.

Dating apps are economically sound
Why drop a ton of cash on drinks trying to talk to strangers in bars when you can, well, not do that? Enough said.

It’s cold up here in Canada
Canadians were early adapters of online dating for a reason: it’s damn cold up here this time of year. Going out to bars to meet new people every weekend might be appealing in the summer months, but it’s nice to do some of the ground work from the comfort of your home when the temperature drops below zero… or, you know, on the bus ride to work.

So, yes, dear millennials, there is true love to be found through a dating app.

Love on the Internet: Do Dating Apps Lead to a Real Relationship?
Created By: PeopleFinders

Have you had luck finding love using dating apps? Have you tried new apps like Hinge, Bumble, and Coffee Meets Bagel? If so, what do you think? And feel free to express your thoughts of upcoming dating app The League. Maybe you’ll inspire an Ask Dating Guy column. Tweet us @ViewTheVibe.