The app that perpetuates the “hook-up culture” Chico State is well known for might not be the best place to find friends.

I have used it for the way it was intended a couple of times but I didn’t see it just as a tool to find someone to spend the night with. With the possibility of catching an unsavory disease or just having a bad date, the app didn’t have much appeal to me when I downloaded it.

To me, it seemed like it would be an interesting friend searching app. Rather than choosing to look through countless pictures to select a one-night stand, I decided to seek out new friendships.

Instead of using provocative photos everyone seems to swipe right to, I chose a different look. I used the less inviting photos I gathered from Facebook and changed my description to a funny “I laugh at my own jokes.”

I felt like being original was an important part of getting matches, because it would come off as more candid than the usual zodiac signs and suggestive language often on people’s bio.

When I finally chose to swipe right on someone, it seemed like he had a similar mindset. His default picture was a simple photo. Nothing really stood out.

His bio wasn’t trying to be funny or pretentious. It described his major and who he was as a person. I swiped right immediately because as someone who tries to see the good in everything around me, I saw equitable sincerity.

We texted for a few days, and there was not one instance where he showed initiative for a “casual encounter.” He was extremely polite and I soon thought I proved myself right and all my friends wrong.

For the night of Valentine’s Day, I intended to spend it alone in the comfort of my own room, watching romance movies to vicariously live through while eating an excessive amount of chocolate. He had invited himself after inputting that he loved “romcoms.” And after naming a few good ones, I labeled him “legit.”

Three movies and a few hours of quality conversations in, he asked what a guy’s got to do to cuddle with a girl like me.

My train of thought, usually louder than the train passing by just beside my apartment complex, was halted for the first time in months.

My plan to just meet friends had been debunked with one question. Quickly, my brain flashed with multiple “Netflix and Chill” memes that haven’t crossed my mind once before.

Through this, I learned that Tinder is surely made for sex and I am just too naive for some of the technological advances of the world.

Marrion Cruz can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.