Five Guys You Should Be Prepared To Meet On Tinder

I'm kicking off February by introducing something a bit different here on The Indigo Hours; I wanted to add more of a lifestyle slant and discuss something new. Dating isn't something I've ever really talked about on my blog, mainly because I've been in long-term relationships for most of the time I've been blogging. However, since breaking up with my last "serious" boyfriend last August, I've been experimenting with the world of Tinder, and thought this would be quite a fun way to share my experiences!

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Tinder is a dating app; you set up a profile, add some photos, and off you go. You're presented with a series of men (or ladies, or both - whatever floats your boat!) and can either "swipe" left or right on them. The left swipes go in the bin, the right swipes are the ones you like the look of. If you swipe right on someone who also swiped right on you, you get a "Match" and can start chatting. So, here are five types of fella who seem to pop up quite often in my stream of Tinder Matches!

The build-up-to-creepy creep | This guy seems nice at first. He can hold a decent conversation; he asks questions, tells you about himself, and after chatting for a while, asks if you'd like to meet up. You exchange numbers. The date goes well. You agree to see him again, and do so. And then it begins - sometime between the second and third dates, he becomes a bit - keen. He texts, and if you don't respond pronto, you receive the same message eleven minutes later via WhatsApp and then, six minutes after that, by Facebook message. Then another text, "You okay?" followed by a sad face Snapchat and another WhatsApp, "You ignoring me?" and another text, "Have I annoyed you?". And then you get out of the shower or go on your break at work, and look at your phone, and think, "What the-?" and are forced to tell him he's not really what you're looking for, by which you mean you like having space to breathe without him assuming you've died / left the country on a permanent basis without telling him / run off with some other guy.
The explicit-messages guy | This is probably the man every woman dreads when signing up to dating sites and apps; you match with this guy and are immediately bombarded with personal questions about your sexual history and preferences, and messages about what he'd like to do to you / have you do to him. On the bright side, Tinder have removed their 'Moments' feature (which was a bit like Snapchat whereby you could share images with your matches for 24 hours), so no more unsolicited dick pics... I'm not sure if this ever works for any guy (I feel like it must because they keep trying it?) but it sure ain't gonna work for me. Unmatch!
The scarily-intense | This is another guy who seems nice at first. Maybe you swap numbers. He becomes very intense, pointing out how much you have in common (like, say, a football team and the last movie you saw at the cinema) and telling you really in-depth things about his life, exes, work... Everything. No filter. Before you've ever even met. If this isn't enough of a warning for you (please, learn from my mistakes!), and you do happen to meet this guy, he will treat the date like a job interview, and text you again before you're out of sight.
The disappearing act | This one, too, seems nice. He's funny, you message back and forth, things seem to be going well... And then he vanishes. No explanation. Maybe he died? Maybe he met someone? Maybe he had a girlfriend all along and got caught out? Who knows!
The actually quite nice, reasonably normal one | This one will probably take you by surprise - you might be becoming a bit jaded, wondering, "When will you turn out to be a weirdo, too?", just waiting for a slightly obsessive text or a revelation about a wife. And all of a sudden you'll find you've been on half a dozen dates, have swiped neither left nor right in days, and actually really like this one. Who knew - there are actually some nice, reasonably normal Tinder guys! Spoiler alert: I'm still seeing this one and have actually deleted Tinder; things could get serious! I even drunkenly told my brother about him on a sibling night out.

So - have you ever used Tinder, or another dating site or app? I'd love to hear about your experiences! Would you try something like this, or have you heard too many horror stories?

xo