Over the past week I have given up my time and dignity to try out media-crazed dating app Tinder. If you have not heard about the app by now, you probably live under a rock. It is not uncommon to see Tinder conversations on social media, and the app has been deemed a socially acceptable way of meeting a possible partner.

Many college students use Tinder as a way to have fun and talk to people in their area, while others use it seriously, looking for a relationship or someone to hook up with.

Basically, the idea of the app is to rate others based on the few pictures they post, and whatever they write in their bio, if anything. You can reject them or approve of them with just the swipe of your finger. Left indicates a pass, while right takes note that you liked them.  If both people agree and swipe right, you are considered a match, and chat capabilities are opened.

You can set the age range you wish to see, gender and location. Tinder will not work without your location services being turned on. I set my distance to 100 miles in hopes of never actually seeing anyone that I talked to on Tinder. This failed me when someone actually approached me and told me they saw my profile on Tinder. I denied the existence of my account and told them my name was Sharon.

When making my profile, I uploaded a picture of my dog and I and a picture of myself playing guitar. After a few hours I had multiple matches and some started to message me. I began to get the idea that everybody lies on Tinder because the majority of those who messaged me told me they also play guitar.  When I asked about their talent, they seemed to have little knowledge on the topic. One who did not know how to play opened conversation by asking me to write him a song.

Some tried to get my attention with lines like “Hey beautiful :)” while some used more advanced pick-up lines like, “Do you work at Little Caesars cause you’re hot and i’m ready.” This actually made it fun for me to get a new message. Who doesn’t love a cheesy pick-up line and a good laugh?

As social media has pointed out, everyone will receive a few messages that will make them cringe. I had my fair share of disturbing introductions. I don’t know how I was supposed to respond to “Let’s be honest, I want to just bend you over and give you the most average 26 seconds of your day.”  I heard the line “I wish you were my pinky toe so I could bang you on all of my furniture,” a few too many times.  If I learned anything throughout this experience it was how to think of a killer comeback insanely fast. Either that or I told the suitor I sleep with 32 stuffed animals lined up in alphabetical order. That one worked like a charm.

I’m just going to be honest, while scrolling through Tinder there are a lot of seemingly creepy people. You will see some who say they are 20 years old but are definitely closer to 45. I pride myself on being a nonjudgmental person, but on an app with minimal information, what other option do you have? It left me feeling extremely shallow even though I knew I was rejecting them based on my personal safety and what I felt comfortable with.

I understand why some find Tinder enjoyable. It’s surprisingly addicting to scroll through person after person and finding a match is an instant confidence booster. Despite the many scary people users may encounter, there are actually some pretty cool people that use it. I talked to a few that I wouldn’t mind getting to know in real life.

That being said, I can never see myself taking it seriously or using it for more than this experiment. Frankly, I don’t want to live in a world where I have to lie about how I met someone because I’m embarrassed of it. Even more so, I don’t want to expose myself to a place where asking for my bra size is an acceptable conversation starter. Maybe for some, technology is a reasonable way to meet a hook up buddy, or even a soulmate, but Tinder will not be aiding me with that anytime soon.

Note: The following Tinder conversations may be deemed offensive for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.