|
| VIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Instagram |
|
 |
Instagram Is The New Tinder—whether You Want It To Be Or Not |
|
|
|
|
|
|
About the organization Instagram:
Type: Business
Sub-Types: Website, Picture Hosting Agent, Video Hosting Agent, Application Software, Telecommunication, Telecommunication Software |
|
Notable Organizations: Instagram, Mashable, Tinder
|
|
| Forget about Tinder, Grindr, Her, Bumble, or whatever other apps you're hitting up for all your dating needs. There's another app that's rapidly becoming a hotspot for digital flirting, whether you want it to be or not: Instagram.
In the past few months alone, my Instagram DMs have transformed from a desolate tumbleweed-filled vault into a rather busy inbox reserved especially for flirting purposes.
Rather than receiving unsolicited chat-up lines from strangers, these messages come from people I know and already follow on Insta. Like, former flames, friends-of-friends, even classmates I haven't seen for 10+ years. And, depending on the person, these blasts from the past aren't always unwelcome.
Rather than magically inboxing me out-of-the-blue, these DMs often appear after I've posted a photo on Instagram, or updated my story. If I'm travelling overseas, the Insta-flirter will DM me something related to the #humblebrag I just posted on my story. Sure, messaging me about my holiday to France could very well be a pretext—but, hey, it might not be an unwanted one.
Copywriter Scott Muska noticed people sliding into his DMs anytime he posted pictures on Instagram this summer. "They were never from strangers, but rather people I hadn't heard from in a long time, or people who I didn't know very well, more like acquaintances,".
He interpreted these DMs as "reactionary" to the photos, rather than a spontaneous text or email to say "hello and we should catch up."
"Like, 'Oh, I haven't thought of this person for years but I'll say what's up now, just in case they're still single or whatever,'" says Muska. One message he received was from a woman from his hometown who said: "We should hang out if you're home over Thanksgiving." Muska sees the messaging as people trying to keep him on their "bench."
As flirting goes, it's not always people we know trying to get our attention. Jewellery designer Jane Cooper met her current boyfriend after he slid into her Instagram DMs. "I was on a train a few months back and recognised a guy a few seats away who kept looking at me," says Cooper. "Later that night I got an Instagram DM from hot train guy." |
|
|
| Leave Comments: |
|
|
|
|
|
