Would you use GPS to find your next date?
While flipping through the May issue of Marie Claire, I came across a piece called The Insta-Date Explosion, which features a slew of GPS-addled apps designed to assist users in finding dating prospects on-the-go. One device, called—ahem—Bang With Friends, will even help the carnally forlorn uncover potential nearby one-night stands. (No pun intended. Okay, slightly intended.)
I have mixed feelings about online dating in general—it works for some people, though like most things, it’s not necessarily for everyone—but I think that relying on an app to vet the availability of attractive strangers is another step forward in social disconnectedness, and one step back for mankind. There’s a reason why we feel nervous in approaching people we don’t know, romantically or otherwise: it’s because we’re human beings, and those tingly feelings are designed to let us know we’re alive. Sure, rejection sucks, but I don't need technology to decipher cues that someone isn't interested in me; and if it's self-confidence that's lacking, there are so many better ways to build it up—for example, breaking it down to Beyoncé in the privacy of one's apartment before heading out for the night.
Besides, there's no reward without risk—and I doubt a Sunday morning spoon session would smell as sweet if it arrived via push notification. (Of course, Grindr users might argue with that; then again, I'm not exactly their target audience.)
Would you use GPS to navigate the way into your next relationship?
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