Tinder : The Dating App (short Review)

[majimekun]

If you don't know yet, Tinder is quite popular in Japan.
It's available on Android and iOS.

The concept : you browse profiles located in your area, you like with a right swipe, you dislike with a left swipe.
When two users are matched, they are allowed to chat. Everything is free, no hidden cost at all.

Pros :
- easy and fun to use
- free
- a lot of japanese girls using this service (I managed to get a new date every single day (exhausting btw))

Cons :
- most people don't introduce themselves and don't write about their expectations, which means you have to find out by yourself (quite time consuming)
- some people only seek friends
- as always, girls like to cheat with their photos (puerile and showing lack of confidence)

Anyway ... good luck

 

[Wwanderer]

So many of them cheat because so many of us judge almost entirely be appearance!

But more to the point, does this app work only in Japanese or is it usable for English-only readers/writers?

-Ww

 

[majimekun]

The application is in English and most of the girls there seek foreigners I guess.

 

[Whoissalmon]

I've been using Tinder for a few months now in my home country. I was actually surprised to hear it's popular in Japan, because it requires a Facebook account.

During my last trip I swiped through a few hundred girls and got about a dozen matches, about half of who were Japanese. One or two of those actually seemed like they wanted to meet, but in the end I ended up going on a date with a non-Japanese girl that time.

Maybe next time I'll be more proactive and suggest a few more dates to different girls.

 

[KeithOP]

I'd heard about this, but I didn't realize that it's made its way to Japan.

Do you have to give it one location or does it key off where your phone detects you are? I'm out in the sticks but if I go into Tokyo for a weekend it might be a nice way to meet up with some random ladies.

Can you specify a photo for it or does it have to be your default Facebook photo?

I hope none of my students use it!

 

[majimekun]

It detects your location and proposes profiles located within a perimeter you define in the settings.
You can set photos and a profile description that are different from facebook.

What you need to know is that you have to like a lot of profiles if you want to get the chance to be liked in return.

 

[Solong]

It seems Tinder works with non-Japanese women more. Like the foreign women "get it" and seek to hook up with guys. They respond with days to meet and location.

Where the Japanese women do weird things, say for instance, "like your photo", but no response to messages (Japanese or English). I question if many Japanese women even understand the purpose. Some of them would go back and forth in messages, like they had no clue about hook up, or give weird unnecessary excuses about why they are on it.

Tinder comes across as the ultimate shallow "like you for your picture only" system. Some women (not all) cheat their ass off. Many put up obscure, far away (so can't see face), or not clear pictures and many have no description whatsoever.

Tinder also doesn't have information like height, weight, single or married (0,0) kids (0,0) etc...

Nothing like finding out when you meet that she is married and/or has kids. And such heterosexual women seem to ESPECIALLY like Tinder as a way to get over on guys. About 35% of the women that I get likes or wanting to meet. Women who I would ordinarily bypass on a dating website.

If you want to know anything specific, online dating applications are better in that regard. Tinder only works when the woman "gets it" and doesn't have psychological problems in regards to sex or about meeting guys based on just looks (head shot photo).

 

[Solong]

Another thing about Tinder, is women seem highly afflicted with ADHD. If you are a match, you often need to respond almost right away and make arrangements. Most likely, women are swimming in a sasuage-fest and jumping from guy to guy in a blink.

 

[Kisekisan]

I've been tempted to put up a fake female profile just to see how different it is for them. But yeah, most the women I've met on there seem to be looking for a foreign guy to show off to their friends. We're like Gucci bags to those girls. Others are looking for free English lessons. For me at least, it's pretty unreliable.

 

[majimekun]

Yeah Tinder totally sucks now.
Don't bother wasting your time with it.

 

[Solong]

Yeah Tinder totally sucks now.
Don't bother wasting your time with it.

I don't think it's Tinder, as much as it's Japanese women not understanding the point of it. "What, you want to meet?" Like what in the hell are you doing using Tinder?

 

[Solong]

Tinder appears to now have been infiltrated by scammers and fake profiles, much like how Craigslist was attacked.

Very interestingly, this attack on Tinder by scammers is using the profiles of foreign women so far.

An example of the scam reply from a match.

hey ____ :+) nice of you to write. I don´t like tinder that much. Please let´s write at Omiai? http:://goo.gl/1nYG3Q it´s nicer and i have more pics there. my name is foreignfun007

I purposely put http:: to not web link their website from here.

 

[majimekun]

Seen it too.
Managed to get a date with a japanese women recently but as usual it was a crappy experience when done via Tinder because of the lack of profiling/matching.

 

[namae]

I have been using Tinder for a month or so. Not very effective or efficient - though my profile does not contain a pic and discloses I am married. I figure direct and honest filters out women who are looking for boyfriend/husband. I expected Tinder to be useless - like other dating sites here in JPN - so I deliberately limit my time investment. Wasted some time swapping emails with some people who then just "unmatch" after flirting for several days. Had a lengthy exchange with one women who fell into the naive and innocent category - shocked that we may look to hook up.I think JPN CD's are getting a kick out of using Tinder and seeing who they can fool with their pics. Since I started using Tinder I find myself looking at JPN women on the train and asking : is she/he a man? I had one lunch date to test the chemistry. It was with a 40 something divorcee who was 5 or 6/10 - with a great rack, she made it clear that she liked to be "wined + dined", but over lunch it was clear that she was not so keen to for extra dessert. I haven't encountered any scam profiles, but possibly many are fake profiles posted by Tinder. Swapping emails with one chick today who sounds very promising. Would be good to post and share on this site any tinder profiles that are scammers/fakes/CD's, time wasters..... if the site rules permit that.

 

[just4fun]

We should have a thread where we can compare/contrast winners and losers on dating sites.....

 

[Solong]

Blatant scammers, who try to have you come to their dating or cam site seemed to be filtered or blocked well.

However, I do question if Tinder itself is putting out fake profiles since the went the money route. I noticed this about OKCupid as well, since you can pay buy a subscription. Money corrupts.

But mostly, it appears many Japanese women are kind of clueless about hooking up or straight out Attention-Whoring (as if Tinder was the new Facebook).

Often the Japanese women tell all kinds of weird excuses about why they are on Tinder, as if anybody really cares or believes the bullshit, or appear overly timid and afraid.

 

[Solong]

Some examples of how Tinder in Japan is weird:

1) Lots of Japanese women with profile pics with MULTIPLE women, like so you can't identify who they are

2) Taking pictures with their back to the camera, body and face turned sideways, or head turned

3) Taking pictures with the face partially hidden, like hands or paper covering their face, etc...

4) Pictures with their hair dyed and wearing color contact lenses

I know this is a style among some Japanese women, but these pics are weird in they are up close head shots. It's like a woman disguising herself with a blonde wig and color contacts. The up close head shot can give you no idea about the rest of her. Sometimes this style is more to be show-off glamorous, more than anything else.

5) Glamour Shot or Joke Type Pictures

4 and 5 are a bit related, but it appears the pictures are not natural or for the purpose of dating, but more for attention (attention-whoring). Like it's trying to emulate a magazine or cartoon. A bit hard to explain in the written word, but clearly very different from normal-like pictures or those women interested in dating.

Pictures of dolls, animals, and plain ridiculous shit.

And this is not even getting into fake profiles, with a kind of model or too good to be true. Those often are not of Japanese women, but model-ish White women pictures that scammers use to lure people to their websites or con out of sending money over the Internet.

6) Liking your picture, then never responding to messages

7) Telling weird excuses and/or lies for why they are on Tinder. Plain clueless or pretending to not know about the purpose or use of Tinder.

8) Some Japanese guys under the sex of "Female".

This leaves me scratching my head. I'm thinking it should be pretty obvious to know the difference between male and female. If a mistake, you should easily catch or fix. Maybe they are gay?

 

[majimekun]

I have discussed about it with a female Tinder user once and she told me guys behave mostly the same.

 

[namae]

Some examples of how Tinder in Japan is weird:



8) Some Japanese guys under the sex of "Female".

This leaves me scratching my head. I'm thinking it should be pretty obvious to know the difference between male and female. If a mistake, you should easily catch or fix. Maybe they are gay?

____________________________
That was one of the points I made...there seems to be a lot of men in the fashion CD/CD category getting a kick out of testing their look on Tinder. They may not be gay .... part of the growing army of hetro JPN men who enjoy dressing as women.

The "disguised" pics always catch my attention......could be an indicator that they married and looking for some fun on the side.

 

[Solong]

I have discussed about it with a female Tinder user once and she told me guys behave mostly the same.

Out of curiosity, I changed my discover settings to male, to see if guys were doing the same thing. Actually and surprisingly, it appears guys are doing weird pictures at a far LOWER frequency. Much more normal pictures, it seems. Though 2 things did stand out:

1) Guys taking pictures with a woman or surrounded by multiple women.

This is a PUA tactic often talked about. However I do question if it works. For instance, when I see a woman with a picture of herself and another guy or guys, I swipe left (NOT like). Got no time for chicks in a clearly obvious sausge-fest, and I'm thinking most women would label the guy (and opposite) as a playboy and skip him.

However, what a few guys are doing (taking pictures with women) is also different from what many Japanese women do.

The Japanese women take pictures with multiple other women, so you can't identify who in the group that they are. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of Tinder. Who am I liking? It's not like both or a gang of women are coming to the house for sex.

2) Weird pictures of back turning, turned sideways, or head turned usually belonged to Japanese guys.

I guess it's a Japanese thing where some try to "hide" in a picture.

I think it gives off a very creepy vibe, and creates the obvious question of, "What are you doing or trying to do, that you need to hide or disguise yourself?"

 

[Solong]

____________________________
That was one of the points I made...there seems to be a lot of men in the fashion CD/CD category getting a kick out of testing their look on Tinder. They may not be gay .... part of the growing army of hetro JPN men who enjoy dressing as women.

The "disguised" pics always catch my attention......could be an indicator that they married and looking for some fun on the side.

Possibly true on head turned/sideways pictures, but she is getting over. She knows what you look like, while she has offered nothing in return. When I dealt with those, they were disasters.

Such women "LIKES" me and then wasted my time in messages, then she shows a picture or turns out when meeting to be: much older than claimed, fat, ugly, or very busted looking teeth. Was hiding her face, for reasons that appear other than marriage.

And another thing. Even if my wife or girlfriend had a picture with her head turned or sideways, I would still recognize her and I'm sure she would for me too. I mean, if you are going to play the cheat game on Tinder, just go all out for a short while. Find someone, then delete the profile.

The disguised pictures that seem to do work out, are when she shows a sexy body part. Like she has taken a picture of her cute feet with toe nails painted, legs, or body in bikini without face. Interestingly, the rest of her often matches the sexy part she showed. I'm not exactly sure why it works out in those cases, but not head turn shot. It's why I didn't list sexy body parts as a negative. My theory is when a person turns their head, they have nothing else to offer, where sexy body parts are more likely to mean she can back it up.

 

[majimekun]

I discussed that very specific topic (fully/partly hidden face) with girls who do the same, and the reason they invariably bring is their fear of being recognized by coworkers.

I know it's pretty stupid when you think about it but you have to remember that "deai" has a negative image in Japan and that talking about others is a national sport here (especially among coworkers).

 

[Solong]

I discussed that very specific topic (fully/partly hidden face) with girls who do the same, and the reason they invariably bring is their fear of being recognized by coworkers.

I know it's pretty stupid when you think about it but you have to remember that "deai" has a negative image in Japan and that talking about others is a national sport here (especially among coworkers).

Again, true, but what about all the others with co-workers and friends who don't play the "hide the face game"?

Plus, I would still be pretty likely to recognize a co-worker, even if side of face or head turned. Not as much as a girlfriend or wife, but odds would still be up there. And, if you are single, why care so much?

This also goes into the Japanese cultural weirdness of being overly paranoid about things they shouldn't be so much. If you are that paranoid, don't be on Tinder. Half-assing it, is more likely to lead to failures and problems. It's like how many Japanese fail at ever learning English, even after 10 years of study, due to fear of having a conversation and fear of embarrassing themselves by not speaking "perfectly". People who learn, are those who are not afraid of making mistakes and apply themselves. People getting the most out of Tinder aren't usually putting up profile pictures of their back or the back of their head. All the sneakiness, slyness, and shyness can backfire.

 

[tanuk3y]

Tinder sucks. Women have never liked me. I'm actually pretty OK to good looking. I found it odd that there were so many good looking almost model like good looking Japanese women on there. I became immediately suspicious from day one.

 

[Solong]

Tinder sucks. Women have never liked me. I'm actually pretty OK to good looking. I found it odd that there were so many good looking almost model like good looking Japanese women on there. I became immediately suspicious from day one.

I can vouch for Tinder, that it did work in the past, as have met several women from there. However, since it went to subscription and as a pay service, it appears to have gone down. Starting to give off a scammish vibe.

One problem is that if you have a subscription, you can choose multiple areas where you don't live. At first I thought this was a great idea, but for Japan, I'm thinking that's terrible. I think cute women are probably getting swamped with out of town dudes promising everything but the kitchen sink. And many Japanese women tend to be silly. Instead of hooking up with guys in their same city, they will have a never to rarely will ever meet fantasy conversation with some random guy in Italy. Who has a sick grandmother and needs to be wired $5,000 dollars.

The other weird thing is you will get women that will like you too, but as soon as you ask for e-mail or LINE contacts, they are ghost. Feels like dealing with a bot. Tinder appears to be possibly borrowing a page from Ashley Madison. That pretty girl, is just a bot, to try to keep you subscribing.