We’ve all heard a few hilarious Tinder stories: “Grandma hated my ex because we met on Tinder, the Holy Oldie in her believed it was a ‘fake’ union.”

“My single mom recently signed up on Tinder, and boy did she whoop my ass when she saw my profile! I don’t get it, was I wrong to be in a place she just checked into?”

“I liked him a lot and I thought we stood a chance until my friend saw him on tinder! Hell, I dumped his sorry ass – I ain’t dating no man desperate for a quick grab!”

“My husband and I met on Tinder after a month of terrible Tinder experiences with our exes. I love being his wife except for the part where my in-laws call me ‘the Tinder Girl’.”

“Girl we’ve got to get you a man, but not one of those anonymous hideous men from Tinder, take your account down and get a serious man!”

Let’s do a little self-check, have you signed up on Tinder or given it a thought before? C’mon don’t lie! Tinder rates as the best dating app in comparison to its competitors, but it also has some disturbing facts and mocking ideologies linked to it.

15. It’s A Hub For Cyber Predators

You might be flirting with an ISIS gang leader, bounty hunter, a human trafficker or a kidnapper for Pete’s sake! But you couldn’t possibly know this because their profile picture is a fine hottie, innocently cuddling some cute puppy. Adrenaline-heated messages will hit your inbox, prompting you to give out your location and boom! You are a cyberbullying culprit! No no! You are a cyber attack victim! Oh, you are reported missing in a few weeks! Oops! You are flirting with a troll in a six pack suit! Not everyone on Tinder is who they say they are. Parents should protect their children from such scenarios.

14. The One Night Stand App

If you are looking for a serious relationship, Tinder might not be the place for you. But if you are looking for a quick one-night hookup then go ahead and create not one Tinder account, but as many as you can. You will definitely get to satisfy the craving of the moment and that’s about it. Before you start bashing my sentiments please note that not everyone who uses Tinder is out on an orgasm spree. There are actually those who use the platform with a mere flirt in mind. Hope you find the good ones. The other batch is a crowd of perverts.

13. Speed-Dating Fallacy

What happened to waiting for the right one? Tinder offers all lonely peeps tired of being single an opportunity to swipe right for perfect matches. It is a quick solution until it is not. You simply select the age group you are interested in, the preferred sex, distance from your location and ding ding! You got yourself a fake suitor; several actually. In a real date you get rejected to your face, not with a swipe. You could also use your character thermometer to gauge your compatibility levels. If anything resumes include bios, but most companies still demand a set of interviews and tests to ensure you are what you say you are, doh! So what’s the rush?

12. As Addictive As Crack

This app will get you hooked; swiping left and right will be your new hobby. You’ll be swiping all night long in your dreams. Worse still, you could get addicted to the attention you get from different hotties you flirt with. This could peg your self-esteem on external factors like compliments and flattery, and you could possibly lose touch with reality. We all know how our cheeks heat up when a cutie or super-hot dude compliments us. We crave it when it lacks. To some, this could be the reason why being single is not easy. The attention Tinder affords us becomes an unhealthy addiction and this obsession can lead to disaster.

11. The Awkward Accidental Meet

It could slip your mind that Tinder matches you to someone within your approximate location. You could be going to the nearby store around the corner to grab some groceries then a voice excitedly calls out, “Tiffany99, is that you?” I swear I could hide in the fillet freezer! What would you do in such a scenario? Your hair is still tangled, you’re not sure if you brushed your teeth, you’re with your nagging strict mom, your gigantic period pimple is stuck on your forehead, and he continues chatting you up as he comes closer, smiling. Awkward doesn’t begin to explain it!

10. Bizarre Inbox Messages

It is pretty exciting to finally be matched up to someone. The excitement of the first notification could make your heart grow mellow. The excitement ends when you are assaulted with lame chitchat that’s related to your bio, “I fear weirdos too, hope you’re not one.” This is quite a lame pickup line, have you heard worse? It is often followed by boring conversations, teen-themed texts or the cliché loops of small talk, along the lines of “how was your weekend? What’s your real name?! Why are you avoiding me?! Where are you based?!” Oh Lawd, So lame.

9. Meeting People You Know

This couldn’t go any worse. As you swipe through profiles, you could meet your annoying elder bro, your mean math teacher with 5 ugly pictures (yeah right, like anybody’s gonna pick him!), your I-ain’t-got-time-for-nobody quiet neighbor giving socializing a chance, or worse still, the cute guy you recently met and felt a spark for. OMG! The thought of them reading through your “I’m tired of being single! A girl’s gotta try” notion doesn’t sound nice neither. The thought is actually disturbing. Please keep the stories coming if this has happened to you before. Does it still make you cringe?

8. It Could Cause Low Self-Esteem Without Your Knowledge

When you get so many left swipes, the definition of rejection in Tinder-world, you could begin to lose confidence in your being. A study by the American Psychological Association says that Tinder users have lower self-esteem than non-users, based on a fixation on their bodies and appearances. This is especially based on the societal standards of beauty and portrayal of self-image on the social media platform. Use Tinder for as long as you want to, but know when to stop, what works for you and what doesn’t. You could easily stop believing in yourself because of what the app implies. Your real life mate could be passing you by while you are wallowing in self-pity,

7. Technology Hitches

Besides an attempt to make it the best interactive app, some complaints on breakdowns have been reported on certain product review platforms. Some complain about login hitches, others about a lack of matches for a long period of time, or losing messages, and system failure following updates that month. To certain fellows, a whole day of the Tinder app breakdown is equivalent to an entire week of a hacked stock exchange system. This does not mean it is a terrible app, it simply means it has hitches like every other piece of technology. Don’t bank on it to set life rolling 100%.

6. Fake Romance Store

On Tinder, all respectable names can take a twist of ugly rebirth into pseudo identities. Charles could become Chuuurlce, Liz- Lytze, or Candice-CannedAce. What the hell is wrong with the name your mama gave you!? Wait! That’s not all; even your sea-sick sister could have her bio reading “scuba-diving fan.” Huh! Really? Even the pizza delivery guy can become a ‘prince’ on Tinder; all that matters is a post of whatever gives you swipes to the right side. This got ladies taking 20 selfies at the same position just to pick the perfect one, and men dying in the gym to get perfect six-pack abs and chiselled chests. RIP Reality! Here’s to Fake, Faker, and Fakest.

5. You Might Never Meet IRL

Like other online dating apps, partners you meet on Tinder might give you those amazing moments we all treasure, like when you get a flirting compliment from a guy, or when you get many right swipes. You might have a trail of suitors on your neck online, but when the lights are out and it’s time to sleep, you are still alone and lonely. A majority of the people you might meet online have no intention of meeting you or could possibly not be as interesting as they seem in real life. It’s a world of mere fantasy companionship and one where people can easily get lost in the fantasy.

4. It’s Not That Easy To Get An Ideal Partner

When your friends are trying to convince you to sign up, they make it sound as simple as “swipe right, plan a date, we’ll help you plan your wedding, and then you could begin living happily ever after with your boo.” Sorry to burst your bubble, but Mr. or Mrs. Right ain’t that easy to find on Tinder. You might have to nurse a sore thumb before swiping over the one you could spend the rest of your life with. You might even swipe a whole year and not find any match that works for you. Your colleague sitting opposite your desk could be your husband-to-be but you are too busy swiping to notice him. All swipe and no meet makes Jill a single lady!

3. High App Fatigue Rate

App fatigue is a scenario where an app gets you to the aaargh-I-have-had-enough moment. Unlike other online dating apps, Tinder commands a huge deal of followers, but due to the factors mentioned above, it tends to get a lot of pull outs. Once the hype of belonging to the Tinder community fizzles out it stops being a fantasy and becomes a sorry excuse for romance. This happens to fellows who do not get frequent matches, get cyber bullied, and those who receive horrendously creepy messages.

2. Free-But-Not-Free Dating App

Although Tinder does not charge its users, it has limited features for free. To enjoy certain features, you have to purchase them or change your account to Tinder Plus, which is the fully paid version of the app. Features such as matches around the world, rewind left swipes, super likes blue star, 30 minutes top profile boost a week, turning off ads and much more are some of the priced premium features. Many users spend a lot of money on the premium dating app ($9.99 per month for under 30 users, and $19.99 for users over 30). Oh, what a dollar mincer!

1. Shaming Users

What comes to your mind when Tinder is mentioned? ‘Tinder girl’, ‘stalker’, ‘creep’ are some of the common names associated with Tinder users. This could be because of certain negative misconceptions pegged on the society’s beliefs, based on complaints and reviews commonly heard of. Although the society has embraced online dating today, some people still face stigmatization and victimization for using online dating sites. The harsh treatment also stems from families too. Some parents don’t allow their children to marry suitors they met online. They would say, “She is too good to be true, you got her on Tinder? Give her a few more months darling, not all that glitters is gold.” Can you blame them?

Sources: abc.net, chicagonow.com, buzzfeed.com