Swiper lover
Isn’t it funny that some people are looking for a soulmate based on physical attributes in a few pictures?
Well, I’m maybe a bit harsh, there is still the bio for people who can actually read. I’ve been using Tinder for a while now (I have my reasons, go away.) and I’m quite tired of it. Because I’m not ready to deal with some of my digital behavior I probably won’t delete it now, I will write about it another time.
No, I wanted to give my opinion on something else. A few months back I saw this:
So for context, it presents the exposition Future of Love somewhere in France. It is organized by Tinder to explore the possibility of digital love with the participation of 40 artists from around the globe (take that flat earthers).
I think it’s great, I would have liked to go and experience it, I’m sure it was stimulating. But let’s get to the problem. In the video the Artist, Andy Picci presents his artwork. It is an audiovisual installation. At first, you will hear a heartbeat, a strong symbol of life, and love in this case precisely. Then you will see a smartphone on which Tinder profile is swiped, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right.
To this the artist told us:
“The important, it is really the gesture which swipes continually and produces a heartbeat. And in the end, that’s what makes our heartbeats, this emotion, this craving of finding someone, our ego flattered when we match.”
On one side, I think the installation is quite interesting. Before the explanation by the artist, I thought it was some kind of critical statement. That we are so addict to screen and tech that we don’t know how to live without it, including when meeting people.
But on the other side, the artist tells us with a great passion that this is the way to find the right person. Like if it was normal, like if it was love.
So maybe it’s because Tinder is the organizer of the exposition. And it would have been complicated to trash Tinder as it was a massive marketing action for themselves. Therefore the artist doesn’t have the choice to be passionate about it.
The rest of the video promotes the desire of young people of being single because, in the end, it’s better than being in a couple, bla bla bla. We can agree that it would not be in the interest of Tinder that people find their soulmate on their app. And that makes it even more ironic that some people try to find love with it.
Swiping is not loving.
Very few users actually take the time to consider the option they have on their screen. You see a woman (or a guy), you like her (his) profile, you swipe right, and then… Oh! Another woman (guy). You repeat the same actions and you get lost in the consumption of profiles. You don’t take the time to be in the present moment because you want to see what’s next. You’re basically committing a dating burnout (kudos for those who do it while pooping).
The future of love depends on our social interactions.
Smartphones obviously changed the way we interact with people. I think it has become pretty complex to approach someone you actually like in the train/bus commuting to work or in a bar (I did not say impossible). It could have been somehow normal before the social media era because talking to people in real life was sort of a convention if you wanted to “connect” with someone new. But today, it’s kinda weird if you are not following each other on Instagram. Can someone confirm this or I’m weird as well?
In that case, well maybe Andy Picci was maybe not completely wrong, social interactions became kind of easier over the years at a cost to become meaningless as the quantity becomes more important than quality.
By the way: I am not a guru. While most articles might be more seen as “just a thought”, I am simply sharing my vision and feeling on our digital era and its impact on our daily life.
