STUDENT SHOUT: Are you using dating apps for the right reasons?

This week, EMMA MONEY-CHAPPELL gives her views on online dating

In 1995 the first online dating website was created.

Since then the evolution of online dating has been extremely fast-paced.

Tinder’s predecessors were focused entirely on personality rather than looks. They were full of information about the person rather than shameless selfies.

In 1995 when Gary Kremen launched the first dating website he did so with the aim of ‘getting people together’.

It set the model for future dating websites.

Brilliant fun, right? For a couple of decades, yes.

But now it’s all about swiping and tapping with Tinder and other apps with snappy names like bumble, happn, and dozens more.

For a world that is changing quickly before our eyes, dating sites should keep up too, right?

The problem with keeping up is the loss of sincerity.

Can you even call Tinder a dating app anymore?

Tinder’s most recent update doesn’t even show you the person’s biography – just a picture.

As much as Tinder is already based on looks, hiding the bio is just one step further in judging a book by its cover.

Tinder is widely used for a confidence boost as well as for hook-ups.

But some of the users are on a quest to find love with the app proving to be successful in matching them up.

I’m not sure if it’s the cringe-inducing chat up lines that make your flesh crawl or the finger-aching exercise that soon leads to ‘There’s no one new around you.’

Dating sites and apps in general are a great way of meeting people you’ll probably never see in real life even if they live down your street.

But maybe we should slow it down a little and focus on Match.com’s – which gives information and facts about the other person instead of just what they look like.

Then there’s a real chance of finding love.