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My experience with the dating app

Hey, if you want to join Tinder looking for love, you might find more transactional relationships on the app.

A Tinder match

"You should be on Tinder" a colleague advised me a few months ago when we were talking about love and relationships in Nigeria. When he told me about Tinder I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. I briefly tried it out last year but lost interest on the same day I downloaded it. I deleted it from my phone quickly.

I decided to give it another shot and downloaded it. I still hate the fact that Tinder incorporates your Facebook profile and photos. The average Facebook profile sucks and the photos on there suck more.

I had to upload my new Instagram-worthy photos on my Tinder Profile. I also pimped my bio to attract ladies. After this, I started swiping. I swiped to the left a lot, but once in a while, I swiped right whenever I saw a hottie. After 15 minutes of swiping, I closed the app.

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Two days later, on a Sunday, I got a notification that someone had I earlier swiped had also swiped my profile. I checked her account, I couldn't remember that I gave her a 'yes' swipe but hey, I went through her photos and she wasn't bad looking.

I sent her a "Hi", and she hit me up with "what's up?" I introduced myself and she replied me with an "OK". Things got fuzzy from here on. I tried to engage her in some small talk but I got a "so when are we hooking up?"

At this point I knew who I was dealing with- a runs girl. "When are we hooking up?" is the introductory line of most Internet savvy runs girls.

After I asked her "what will it take?" I got no reply. I continued on swiping Tinder and hours later, a hot chick swiped back. I started another round of convo. When I asked her are you here for hook ups she said yes. A couple of minutes later she told me that N25,000 is what it will take for her to hook up with me. I gulped then laughed at the screen of my iPhone. I told her I would hit up later in the weekend after she told me what the money will 'cover' and 'not cover'.

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The nice guy in me didn't want to believe that Tinder in Lagos is basically a transaction point for flesh. However, after I had chatted with four more young women I fully believed. The prices of the other women I hit up ranged from N30,000-N60,000.

I thought this experience was only exclusive to me but when I spoke to other guys they revealed a lot of guys on Tinder in Lagos use Tinder for paid sex. Someone actually told me it is a "[expletive] parlour." I guess you can't find love through an app.

My personal revelation shouldn't be surprising really. Before Tinder, 2go and Badoo were the reigning apps used for 'hook ups'. I knew someone who used Badoo a lot for hookups.

It is possible to find women who are not into transactional sexual relationships on Tinder (after I skewed my profile I chatted with two working ladies who were not into hookups).

A couple of months later, I was tired of the swiping game and deleted Tinder from my phone. The app is still a hit for those searching for relationships or other things.

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