Before venturing to Colombia, I spent my fair
share of time swiping on the Tinders. My foray into the dating app started one
summer a couple of years back while living outside of the US, offering a
welcomed respite from an otherwise slow stay in a new city where I did not know
a single soul. Since then, my experiences setting the Tinder world on fire have
run quite the gamut, from the awkward and uncomfortable to the pleasantly
surprising.
After recently settling into my new home in
Bogota, I quickly flashed back to that summer when Tinder first sparked a
lover’s flame in my heart. My roommates and friendly colleagues at work made me
feel welcomed to this new city, yet I yearned to spread my wings and explore
all that my new home had to offer outside of the comfortable bubble of
readymade friends and colleagues.
In deciding if you “like” someone or not, Tinder
asks participants to judge one another based on a handful of pictures and a
back-of-the-envelope description of who they are/what they (dis)like. To those
interested (like me) in dissecting this otherwise superficial app beyond what
it offers on its surface, exploring Tinder's role as a medium for social
experimentation offers hours of intriguing contemplation. By creating miniature
laboratories within our own little worlds, Tinder presents opportunities for
our own thought-provoking anthropological analyses, helping those that are
willing to dig beneath the surface to unearth interesting perspectives of today’s society.
What conclusions do you draw about a person
after seeing the clothes they wear in their photos? What stereotypes guide the
conclusions we draw about someone based on where they went to school? What do
we think we know about someone based on the job they have? For example, if I show
you a Tinder photo a 26-year-old, white guy dressed in khakis, a pink polo
shirt, and a bow tie that graduated from Ole Miss you probably have a few good
ideas on the kind of person you think he is – what music he listens to, his
favorite foods, his preferred sports, and the like. You could be completely
wrong, but, chances are, you’d be in the ballpark on a few things, even if you
were as much the opposite of this guy as you think you could possibly be. The
point being, if you grew up in the US, you’d likely have a few guiding markers
driving your judgment, whether done consciously or subconsciously.
Now, take this same idea, but place yourself in
a different country, culture, and context. What conclusions, if any, would you
be able to draw about a person based on their photo while visiting a foreign
land? To you, their clothes
may seem fashionable and attractive, whereas any local could easily tell you
that, in fact, their clothes are outdated, meaning they likely come from a
lower class. To you, a listed university of study may indicate nothing more
than what city they once lived in, whereas a local could dissect this
information to tell you what social class their family belongs to, what circle
of friends they run with, what kind of job they probably have today, and how
much money they make.
Comparing these two scenarios, it is interesting
to me that, in the former, I might feel comfortable thinking I can
"place" someone, while in the latter I would freely admit I could
not. Yet, in either of these situations I do not know the person at all. In
many ways, I have found the obliviousness from the latter scenario very
refreshing. My relative newness to Bogota means I can see people with fresh
eyes, free of predisposition of who or what they are.
Philosophizing aside, I have come to note a few
trends in the Colombian Tinder world that I find entertaining. Take note,
ladies…
The baby bump
Kids, husbands/significant others, and families
The otherwise odd
Anime, always a winner
Dog Princess
And....whatever this is
Certainly, I am not the catch of all catches out there (in the
real world, virtual world, or otherwise), but I like to think I bring a decent
amount to the table. What’s a modern day renaissance man to do when he
otherwise cannot be bothered with the usual bar scene in a new city? Start
swiping of course…
