If you’re thinking about looking for your Catholic match on a mobile app, thoughts about other dating apps may cross your mind.
Is it possible to find the love of your life on Tinder? Or should you just focus on putting together a profile on a Catholic, faith-based app?
Technology has changed the way we do a lot of things
From smartphones to artificial intelligence, technology has transformed our day to day lives. In my home, I’m setting kitchen timers and turning off my bedroom lights with an Amazon Alexa, all while communicating with friends on video calls and text messages. Our lives look much different than they did even ten years ago, and technology is evolving constantly!
Technology is also making incredible advancements in mental and physical health fields. Although it gets a bad rap, when technology is used in a healthy, balanced way, it can be a great benefit to our lives today.
Now technology can help you date!
Since technology affects everything from our housing and architecture to the way we read our medical charts, it makes sense that technology is impacting how we date, too. Now more than ever, it’s easy to find out more about the person you’re dating through social media. You can communicate and find your Catholic match on a mobile app from the comfort of your own home.
Today, it’s possible to meet an incredible amount of people thanks to technology.
17% of marriages in 2017 started online
It used to be that meeting someone online caused red flags to go up in people’s mind when they heard your love story. But today, meeting someone online is becoming more and more common.
In a survey conducted by the Knot, 19% of brides said that they met their spouse online. That’s an incredible jump up from the 5% of American couples who met online in 2015.
In fact, meeting someone online has passed up the more traditional ways of meeting people like through mutual friends, during the college years, or in the workplace. So if you’re turning to your laptop or smartphone in hopes of sparking a romance and starting your own love story, you’re not alone! You can find love and your Catholic match on a mobile app starting today!
40% of Americans use online dating
Thanks to the broad range of dating apps out there on the web today, it’s common to use a singles app to meet someone new.
Today, there are 40 million Americans logging on to online dating websites. They’re not just all millennials, either. Online dating app users range from young to old.
According to a survey from eHarmony, 27% of young adults say that they use an online dating app, which is up from 10% of young adults who logged onto their dating profile in 2013.
If you’re in the age range of 55-64 years old, you may be among the 6% increase of people using dating websites in your age bracket.
Should I use a Catholic faith-based or non-faith mobile app?
So if you’re open to the idea of finding love through your smart phone, should you put together a profile on a Catholic app (hint: Catholic Singles has an online dating app), or download a more common, secular app? We’ll dig into both options, but it’s good to know that any app you choose will offer pros and cons.
Benefits of a Catholic faith-based dating mobile app
Looking for someone to share your life with, a great Catholic match on a mobile app? Catholic, faith-based dating apps are a great place to start. Here are a few reasons why it’s worth your while to put yourself out there on a Catholic dating app.
Focused on your faith
While a secular singles app may encourage you to fill out a profile and answer questions about your sexual history or past relationships, Catholic apps are asking their users different questions. If you create a profile on a Catholic dating app, you’ll more than likely answer questions about your faith life, where you stand when it comes to core Catholic teachings, and what role faith plays in your every day life.
Connects you to potential matches of the same faith
Singles logging onto a Catholic, faith-based app are more than likely looking for a specifically for a Catholic match on a mobile app. After all, if they were wanting to date someone outside their faith profile, wouldn’t they set up a profile on a secular app?
A chance to meet someone with the same values
Sure, it’s possible to meet a great Catholic match on a secular dating app, but your chances of a fellow Catholic sky-rocket when you log into find your Catholic match on a mobile dating app.
Focused on deeper values and not just appearances
Tinder encourages their users to swipe left or right based on their first impression of a match. Let’s be honest, a lot of that swiping relies on your first impressions of someone’s physical appearance. While you’ll still have to fight the temptation of seeing online dating profiles as a catalog of potential matches, it’s easier to see your Catholic match on a mobile dating app focused on faith life.
Instead of making decisions and judgement based on someone’s profile picture, you’ll be encouraged to look deeper into their thoughts on values and big subjects. This isn’t to say that physical attraction isn’t important, but it’s always good practice to see someone for who they are as a child of God and not just make a swipe decision based on their picture.
Provides a healthy environment for people to share their values
Secular dating apps like tinder have a reputation for being known as a “hook-up app”, where a majority of users are looking for a quick, “no strings attached” one night stand. This isn’t to say that every single user on a Catholic dating app has good intentions in mind, but Catholic apps provide a good environment for people to share their values and discuss deep, meaningful relationships.
Looking for a “friend with benefits” causes us to lose both friendship and benefits. But if you’re looking for your Catholic match on a mobile app, faith-based dating apps are a great place to start if you’re looking for more than what the world has to offer when it comes to dating.
Benefits of using non-faith mobile apps
When I was dating in college, I put my profile up on both a Catholic dating website, and downloaded a more popular, secular app, too. Even though I met my husband offline and didn’t end up finding my Catholic match on a mobile app, I can speak to the pros and cons of all the different apps out there. Although they’re missing that faith element, there are some benefits to creating a profile on a non-faith based mobile app.
Larger user-base
Right of the bat, I realized that there were much more men available to meet on a secular dating app. To top it off, many of them were closer to me geographically, something I struggled to find with my search for a Catholic match on a mobile, faith-based app.
The chance of meeting diverse people
The guys who messaged me on the secular dating app (and the guys who I sent messages to!) came from all types of backgrounds. Some were from small farming communities a few miles down the road, while others were from larger cities. Some of the guys were looking for a serious relationship, and others just wanted one night of fun.
For the most part, the men that I talked to on the secular dating app were open about what they were looking for in a relationship. Although I never met anyone for a first date, it was great to see such a diverse crowd of guys looking for love on the app I chose to set up a profile on. If you’re honest with the other users, it’s for sure possible to find your Catholic match on a mobile, secular dating app.
Lots of choices when it comes to different apps
If you’re looking to meet your Catholic match on a mobile app, there aren’t many specifically Catholic app options out there. But there are many more options if you turn towards secular apps. Many of the apps provide personality tests and algorithms to help you find a match.
Popular online dating apps include Tinder (which launched in 2012), OkCupid, Coffee Meets Bagel, Hinge, Candidate, Match.com, and Bumble. Every non-faith based dating app offers a unique approach to online dating.
For instance, on Bumble, women have to send the first message to get a conversation going. On Coffee Meets Bagel, the app limits the amount of people you can interact with on a daily basis and offers unique ice-breaker information when you view someone’s profile.
So, which is better for you?
With all the options available, how do you choose between finding your Catholic match on a mobile faith-based dating app versus a non-faith based dating app? If you go the secular app route, how do you narrow things down between all the app options out there?
It’s definetly possible to meet a Catholic match on a mobile, non-faith based dating app. But if you’re looking to specifically meet a Catholic match on a mobile app who shares your faith and values, Tinder or Bumble may not make that search incredibly easy. If you want to find someone who shares your faith values, be honest about that in your dating profile (whether it’s on a faith-based or secular app!).
Whichever app you decide to download and create a profile on, remember to reject a catalog-browsing mentality. The profiles you browse through are actual people, even though technology has conditioned us to dehumanize those we interact with online.
