It’s that time of the year again! Spring? Not quite yet. Yes, it’s the Valentine’s day! Sorry for being late to just post this out, but, the dating game is not just for Feb. 14th! After reading this, even though I can’t guarantee you a valentine for 2022, I’m sure you’ll have an idea of the mainstream dating apps on the market and get yourself prepared for the Valentine’s day in 2031!
*Disclaimer: these were my personal experiences and opinions, wasn’t trying to target any apps. If you work for one of them, that’s great, they are good apps in terms of popularity. And no, they did not sponsor me. I wish they did though.
*Disclaimer 2.0: people have different intentions on dating apps, mine might not be the same as yours, so this is a judgemental free zone. (Reviewing apps doesn’t equal to judging them though or does it?)
Quick overview:
“I don’t recommend” section:
- Into the trash
Tinder: Its algorithm was pretty bad; “purchase this and that” everywhere; swiping for ages and couldn’t find a person to match with. Might be fun to have tinder passports and flying around the world during this COVID time though (if you have da money, I’d recommend you to extend your Netflix subscription lol)
*Momo: Opened, didn’t know how to register, closed, deleted.
- Would literally forget (about their existence)
Coffee meets bagel: Still don’t know what it’s about, lots of questionable features when I was using it but I LOVE COFFEE AND BAGELS 😍
*Soul: (did not seem like an actual dating app) People there don’t generally post profile pictures since it’s all about that ~anonymity~. You can talk to people without revealing your identity which means it’s all random. So, you might run into a 13 yo kid or a 50 yo millionaire who knows. No profile pic means no security, so no thanks. Generally, a very boring place if you get bored easily.
*Jimu: Another Chinese dating app. I don’t quite remember about this one. The layouts were kind of confusing and people there were basically all on Tantan as well.
- NO
*Tantan: got banned there, no comments (It’s actually alright, the community was very small, pretty much all Chinese there which means 80% cat fishing and 20% people that I already know irl)
Facebook: 1) Facebook dating: scrolled for a bit and had no interest. The constant notifications are annoying as hell and I don’t know and don’t care how to turn that off. 2) Subtle Asian Dating: I was too weak to compete there but got to know some people on the other end of the world which was nice.
“Can take a look” section:
- It’s ight
Hinge: (the latest version is an Average or a NO) The quality of matches there was higher on average and they would actually respond if they matched you back. It didn’t have the bio section, which I disliked because that’s the place I like the most (does this even make sense lmao). The version long time ago was much better and the recent version has a new feature added where they had this section for “outstanding prompts from the people most my type” that “you won’t see elsewhere,” and you would need roses to like them. Very nice algorithm because mostly were indeed my type, but $5.49 per rose was too much to ask. I mean I get it that apps need this kind of things for business but is it really necessary to pull people that are “most my type” out of the general pool? No, Hinge, you’ve failed me.
*WeChat: The “people around me” feature was ahahah I don’t know how to put it but it was definitely something, especially if you saw your friends on there. You can find some 阿姨 or 叔叔 if you don’t want to 努力 anymore. How WeChat acts as a dating app: 1) you see someone in your friends’ posts like a group photo or some kind, you ask your friends to introduce you and hit them up afterwards. 2) Directly hit up on the person if they’re already your friend. It’s basically like Instagram which I’ll be mentioning below but less stalking and less interactive.
- Average
Bumble: The matching quality was about 200% higher than Tinder’s and 34% lower than Hinge’s. The app icon is a little yellow honeycomb, which is the cutest among the all. Through Bumble, I’ve practiced my pickup line skills to its maximum since it’s a “girls talk first” type of app which weirdly was the only thing I liked about it (besides the icon). It had 24-hr time limits for you to initiate the conversation which I absolutely hated. When I hopped on there after 24 days, everything had gone expired. What are you? Milk? In general, it’s pretty average, doesn’t have any mind-blowing highlight features.
“Shoot your shot, go get em” section:
- Actually helpful
Instagram: Pros: 1) mostly are the people you know I believe? 2) You get to stalk their life. 3) Seems not so dating app, but can still act as one. Cons: 1) if you don’t take the first move, your DM is going to be as dry as your throat just woke up on a winter morning. 2) They are the people you know, so you have to have manners and you can’t just walk away. 3) The “seen” feature, like what if I want to remove that red notification dot but don’t want to respond to the message?
LinkedIn: Very high quality and some people even have a detailed CV attached. Many volunteering experiences? -> must be a kind person; many work experiences? -> must have da money; etc… you get what I mean. (“If you don’t have an over-a-year lab experience, I don’t want it” jkjk)
- THE CHOSEN ONE ヾ(･ε･｀*)
McGill MyCourses: If you know you know QwQ
Dating apps can be fun, can be boring, can be useful, and can be impractical. Different people have different views. It’s almost reading break which is a perfect time to put my suggestions above in use 😉 The thing I want to emphasize is that during this hard time, have fun, stay safe, and act smart.
In the end, I hope y’all can find your right one (or left one) if you haven’t yet and have a long lasting love and happiness if you already have one (or multiple) ❤
One last thing, I wish y’all the best for the rest of your midterms and have a wonderful break with the lecture recordings and assignments that you’ve left behind!
19til29 