Quick review of Tinder Gold and OLD as a whole

[BPH]

No.

Just no.

Absolutely not.

Longer answer? Ok...

I know a lot of this forum advocates for OLD or online dating, and whether that's due to coping so they don't feel like they have to learn to approach in person, or some other reason, I am here to tell you they're wrong.

Can online dating work? Sure.

Are you more likely to be disappointed? 100%.

But ok, here's the anecdote:

Last weekend was my birthday and I was up in New York visiting my brother and checking out the club scene. In my downtime, I fired up the big 3 dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge) and got swiping. I had never used Tinder Gold before and I was curious whether any of these people who "liked" me were attractive, so I went ahead and bought it for the lowest investment, which was one week, and even bought a boost to use Saturday night to get my profile in front of more people.

I kid you not, I did not swipe right on a SINGLE girl who right-swiped on me...

Now you might think maybe I'm ugly or short or something, so let me give you a little background; I just turned 30 but most people guess I look around 24 or 25. I am 6ft tall and weigh about 205lbs. I am white, have all my teeth, have all my hair, and I was attractive enough that I landed a modeling contract (although they never got me any work, so take that how you will). I would probably rate myself around an 8. I was expecting SOME positive results here, considering I'm good-looking by most accounts and was in the population hub of the USA.

Hot girls DO exist on these dating apps...I saw them...I swiped right on them...but alas I did not match with any of them. At one point while waiting in line at a club I decided to just right swipe on everybody. See Tinder Gold allows you unlimited likes, so I got to the point where I was fed up with who liked me and decided to just filter through whoever matched with me later - I probably right-swiped a couple hundred people (people, not girls, since a lot of the matches I came back to were gay guys identifying as women to try to find closeted dudes, as well as a lot of trans). The result? Every match I saw I unmatched.

It is THAT bad.

Hinge had some absolute dimes, but they're only in your Standouts, meaning you can only like 1 of them per week unless you pay more. Bumble had NOTHING. Tinder had plenty of attractive girls, but clearly, they weren't swiping right on me. I still get a match or two trickling in each night from that weekend when these people bothered to check their phones, but it was way worse than I expected.

And to think I was considering going through the trouble to really invest in my OLD profile...

To any young guys reading this, go out and talk to girls in person, be social and network with people to meet other people, and clean up your public profiles on stuff like Facebook or Instagram. Dating apps can work, they have for me in the past, but my goodness they are not worth investing any real time, money, or effort into.

 

[MatureDJ]

I had never used Tinder Gold before and I was curious whether any of these people who "liked" me were attractive, so I went ahead and bought it for the lowest investment ... I kid you not, I did not swipe right on a SINGLE girl who right-swiped on me... Now you might think maybe I'm ugly or short or something, so let me give you a little background; I just turned 30 but most people guess I look around 24 or 25. I am 6ft tall and weigh about 205lbs. I am white, have all my teeth, have all my hair, and I was attractive enough that I landed a modeling contract ...

It's OVER for MaleModelOLDCels.

 

[Ricky]

Is it possible the women never saw these swipes because they are so inundated with matches?

women have trouble deciding what they want for lunch so no way they can decide from hundreds of men. They will struggle to make any choice at all and likely make terrible ones.

apps have been a disaster for both men and women as they clog the social highway and create an illusion of quality abundance for women whereas its mostly bad for them

 

[Solomon]

I deleted all my dating apps recently, I always found that the women I meet in person are far better quality (looks, personality etc) than on the apps. Even if a chick is hot in the apps, usually they are crazy, 304s that ruined their local reputation, super picky or some personality disorder etc. It just felt like a waste of time. It's getting warmer, my plan is to hit the lakes, boat parties, art festivals etc. Tons of hot, quirky chicks to be met outside with summer coming up!

 

[Hamurabimbi]

.

No.

Just no.

Absolutely not.

Longer answer? Ok...

I know a lot of this forum advocates for OLD or online dating, and whether that's due to coping so they don't feel like they have to learn to approach in person, or some other reason, I am here to tell you they're wrong.

Can online dating work? Sure.

Are you more likely to be disappointed? 100%.

But ok, here's the anecdote:

Last weekend was my birthday and I was up in New York visiting my brother and checking out the club scene. In my downtime, I fired up the big 3 dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge) and got swiping. I had never used Tinder Gold before and I was curious whether any of these people who "liked" me were attractive, so I went ahead and bought it for the lowest investment, which was one week, and even bought a boost to use Saturday night to get my profile in front of more people.

I kid you not, I did not swipe right on a SINGLE girl who right-swiped on me...

Now you might think maybe I'm ugly or short or something, so let me give you a little background; I just turned 30 but most people guess I look around 24 or 25. I am 6ft tall and weigh about 205lbs. I am white, have all my teeth, have all my hair, and I was attractive enough that I landed a modeling contract (although they never got me any work, so take that how you will). I would probably rate myself around an 8. I was expecting SOME positive results here, considering I'm good-looking by most accounts and was in the population hub of the USA.

Hot girls DO exist on these dating apps...I saw them...I swiped right on them...but alas I did not match with any of them. At one point while waiting in line at a club I decided to just right swipe on everybody. See Tinder Gold allows you unlimited likes, so I got to the point where I was fed up with who liked me and decided to just filter through whoever matched with me later - I probably right-swiped a couple hundred people (people, not girls, since a lot of the matches I came back to were gay guys identifying as women to try to find closeted dudes, as well as a lot of trans). The result? Every match I saw I unmatched.

It is THAT bad.

Hinge had some absolute dimes, but they're only in your Standouts, meaning you can only like 1 of them per week unless you pay more. Bumble had NOTHING. Tinder had plenty of attractive girls, but clearly, they weren't swiping right on me. I still get a match or two trickling in each night from that weekend when these people bothered to check their phones, but it was way worse than I expected.

And to think I was considering going through the trouble to really invest in my OLD profile...

To any young guys reading this, go out and talk to girls in person, be social and network with people to meet other people, and clean up your public profiles on stuff like Facebook or Instagram. Dating apps can work, they have for me in the past, but my goodness they are not worth investing any real time, money, or effort into.

I used the paid version of Tinder because I travel a lot (mostly for work) and wanted to set my location to where I’d be before I got there.
Tinder was absolutely amazing. An real game changer.
I was not disappointed.

 

[Solomon]

.

I used the paid version of Tinder because I travel a lot (mostly for work) and wanted to set my location to where I’d be before I got there.
Tinder was absolutely amazing. An real game changer.
I was not disappointed.

I'm curious in your experince What region/state did you have the most success in?

 

[Hamurabimbi]

I'm curious in your experince What region/state did you have the most success in?

short term. CA. Midwest.
Long Term (Where I live). SF Bay Area.

 

[SW15]

Can online dating work? Sure.

Are you more likely to be disappointed? 100%.

This has been my experience with online dating over the years.

I was up in New York visiting my brother and checking out the club scene. In my downtime, I fired up the big 3 dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge) and got swiping. I had never used Tinder Gold before and I was curious whether any of these people who "liked" me were attractive, so I went ahead and bought it for the lowest investment, which was one week, and even bought a boost to use Saturday night to get my profile in front of more people.

I kid you not, I did not swipe right on a SINGLE girl who right-swiped on me...

Now you might think maybe I'm ugly or short or something, so let me give you a little background; I just turned 30 but most people guess I look around 24 or 25. I am 6ft tall and weigh about 205lbs. I am white, have all my teeth, have all my hair, and I was attractive enough that I landed a modeling contract (although they never got me any work, so take that how you will). I would probably rate myself around an 8. I was expecting SOME positive results here, considering I'm good-looking by most accounts and was in the population hub of the USA.

Most men who use swipe apps need to use the paid packages for the unlimited swipes. Most men get matches on a fraction of 1% of their right swipes.

At times in the past, I have looked at my swipe queue and looked at women that swiped right on me. I never would swipe right on them because they usually weren't physically what I was seeking. I identify with your experience.

You are 6'0" and 205 lbs. If you are muscular, that's a good frame. That's a BMI that's in the Overweight category but BMI is less useful on very athletic/muscular people. You also have good facial aesthetics and are not balding.

Let's say that you are in the 8-8.5 range. That could be considered borderline 'Chad' or 'Chad Lite'. If you're having a disappointing experience on swipe apps in your looks category, it would be even worse for men closer to average on looks.

Hot girls DO exist on these dating apps...I saw them...I swiped right on them...but alas I did not match with any of them. At one point while waiting in line at a club I decided to just right swipe on everybody. See Tinder Gold allows you unlimited likes, so I got to the point where I was fed up with who liked me and decided to just filter through whoever matched with me later - I probably right-swiped a couple hundred people (people, not girls, since a lot of the matches I came back to were gay guys identifying as women to try to find closeted dudes, as well as a lot of trans). The result? Every match I saw I unmatched.

It is THAT bad.

When I used apps in the past, I saw hot women and swiped right on them. Like you, I rarely matched with them. Women have such abundance on apps that a lot of men get lost in the shuffle. Even a lot of good men get lost in the shuffle.

Hinge had some absolute dimes, but they're only in your Standouts, meaning you can only like 1 of them per week unless you pay more. Bumble had NOTHING. Tinder had plenty of attractive girls, but clearly, they weren't swiping right on me. I still get a match or two trickling in each night from that weekend when these people bothered to check their phones, but it was way worse than I expected.

If a man does a ton of swiping in a weekend and pulls 10-12 matches from that and arranged 3 first dates from those matches, isn't that a good outcome? I am impressed you got 10-12 matches within a week from a big effort of swiping.

Could you have been more productive in person with approaching strangers as compared to swiping right on hundreds of women, getting 10-12 matches, and maybe arranging 3 first dates?

To any young guys reading this, go out and talk to girls in person, be social and network with people to meet other people, and clean up your public profiles on stuff like Facebook or Instagram. Dating apps can work, they have for me in the past, but my goodness they are not worth investing any real time, money, or effort into.

It seems like you think that approaching people in person is more productive in terms of setting up dates and getting sex than sitting at home and swiping from behind an electronic screen.

 

[BPH]

Is it possible the women never saw these swipes because they are so inundated with matches?

Very likely. Also possible that they swiped right on somebody they liked before they got to me.

I've seen what Tinder is like from a hot girl's perspective, every right swipe is a match.

.

I used the paid version of Tinder because I travel a lot (mostly for work) and wanted to set my location to where I’d be before I got there.
Tinder was absolutely amazing. An real game changer.
I was not disappointed.

It can work and has worked for me in the past a few times, but it really depends on how good-looking YOU are, and how good-looking you're shooting for. I think my standards are pretty high...not unrealistically high, but definitely higher than the majority of women I saw.

I'd be curious what the scene looks like in places like Los Angeles or Arizona.

It seems like you think that approaching people in person is more productive in terms of setting up dates and getting sex than sitting at home and swiping from behind an electronic screen.

Yes

 

[SW15]

It seems like you think that approaching people in person is more productive in terms of setting up dates and getting sex than sitting at home and swiping from behind an electronic screen.

Yes

I think many men can arrange more dates from swiping than approaching strangers in the real world. Swiping on hundreds to thousands of women in a weekend, getting 10-12 matches from a weekend of swiping, and getting 3 dates from those matches gives off the illusion of a productive outcome. Few men can arrange 3 dates from approaching strangers during a weekend.

However, the story falls apart once those dates happen. A lot of swipe app arranged dates are a complete waste of time and do not result in sex or a second date. Approaching strangers in person and arranging dates from in person conversations could lead to more quality first dates. These are first dates that lead to second dates and eventually sex.

Swipe apps are a wonderful way to waste time and money with "one date, no sex, no second date" type interactions.

 

[BPH]

I think many men can arrange more dates from swiping than approaching strangers in the real world. Swiping on hundreds to thousands of women in a weekend, getting 10-12 matches from a weekend of swiping, and getting 3 dates from those matches gives off the illusion of a productive outcome. Few men can arrange 3 dates from approaching strangers during a weekend.

However, the story falls apart once those dates happen. A lot of swipe app arranged dates are a complete waste of time and do not result in sex or a second date. Approaching strangers in person and arranging dates from in person conversations could lead to more quality first dates. These are first dates that lead to second dates and eventually sex.

Swipe apps are a wonderful way to waste time and money with "one date, no sex, no second date" type interactions.

Like a lot of things, I had a better experience with it before COVID.

Tinder first came out while I was a freshman in college, and by the time it picked up steam my sophomore year everybody knew it was the hookup app.

Now the hottest profiles I swipe on are girls with stylized versions of "snapchat" in their bio with a name that's not even theirs (they're bots).

 

[SW15]

Like a lot of things, I had a better experience with it before COVID.

The era from September 2012 (Tinder launch date) through February 2020 (right before pandemic really took off) was not a great time for swipe apps. My poor experiences on swipe apps occurred prior to the pandemic. I also had some poor experiences on dating websites in the 2000s and early 2010s as well. The swipe apps just accelerated negative trends from the website era of online dating. Women had abundance in 2000s/early 2010s in their inboxes on Match, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish in that era.

Tinder first came out while I was a freshman in college, and by the time it picked up steam my sophomore year everybody knew it was the hookup app.

I was 29 when Tinder launched in September 2012 and over 30 when Bumble launched in December 2014.

It didn't take long for Tinder to go downhill. By the end of 2013 and into the first half of 2014 is when it started to get the reputation of being a hookup app. In the early days of Tinder, some people experienced some success on it.

Caleb Jones has a 5 phases of effectiveness hypothesis with any dating technology product. He believes this 5 phases model has happened with every dating technology since video dating services of the 1980s. I think he somewhat overstates the effectiveness of Phases 2 and 3, but it's an overall decent model.

https://alphamale20.com/2020/11/28/successful-with-online-dating/

Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have been in his Phase 4 "Difficult" for multiple years and Tinder might even be in Phase 5 right now "Niched". Tinder is effective for top tier 'Chad' types looking for fast sex but very difficult for the majority of men.

I think that doing stuff in real life is the better way to do things.