DIGITAL INTIMACY: Gosh! This one is hot, I’m swiping right
Day by day, we wake up trying to face a colossal list of pressing matters in our lives as humans. We’re constantly trying to find mutual respect and intimacy. But, the hardest part is: how can we have these two emotional needs? When, in reality, each one of us is still apart?
Through the rise of globalization, many things around us are constantly evolving, from technological advancements, the rise of social media, and messaging apps. Of course, we should not forget about the different dating apps anybody can use nowadays to connect or reconnect.
The way we communicate online now makes someone feel at ease to express what he or she feels. Youth, in particular, are turning to online spaces to build communities and explore sexual relationships and intimacy.
During these detrimental times, social connection is really what we’re missing the most. Hence, dating apps like Tinder, Grindr, Blued, and Bumble have seen a surge in use. These apps serve as cold water to someone who’s so thirsty for social interaction.
SWIPED RIGHT
I’ve been hearing the “swiped right” statement for some time now from my friends and another colleague for the past few years. And, as I make this topic about digital intimacy, I’ve been eager to know more about this idiomatic expression. As per my research, I found out that “swiped right” means showing interest or approval for someone’s profile in an app. Yet, I know including my own findings and statistics that could support this article is not enough.
If I’m going to tell a story, that I know I never experienced yet, I just feel like I am being a fraud.
As a writer, I always believed that in order to make my story a good and effective story, I need to have my own place here. So, before making this article; for the first time, I tried downloading a dating app where I can experience what “swiped right” really feels like.
UNLEASHING THAT INNER FREAK!
I’m so outspoken about my own idea of downloading a dating app to my friends, some supported me, some were not. Yet, one night, I did!
I need to understand what intimacy is all about.
And for a good adrenaline rush, while engaging myself with different people on the app, I’m drinking a glass of liquor – alone. I talked to several people, some were nice, but mostly, they’re not.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, that is: Make fun with the flirt and be compassionate to those who are kind.
You’re lucky if you find a kind person.
The rest is wild history!
Insert the song Hot N Cold by Katy and Can’t Keep My Hands to My Self by Selena, to make the feelings more intense while still being aware that I can’t even kiss or hugged a guy intimately because everything is just digitalized.
There’s a common stereotyping against the people who are using dating apps nowadays. To some people, they call it a desperate move to get to know someone you want to be part of your life. It’s true, that on these dating apps, it’s really hard to find the right perfect person who has the same interest as you. To cut the chase, most people there were only looking for someone who can suffice their sexual needs.
In the end, you’re still the one who has full control of yourself. Just make sure that you’re not falling down into that rabbit hole or else you’ll become this type of person who will be waking up the next morning: feeling shocked while re-reading a certain intimate and sexual conversation with a stranger in that dating app, feeling that “last night you’re drunk while conversing” type of feeling.
