The first question I most often get when I tell people I am moving to Myrtle Beach: “Do you know anyone down there!?”

Well no, I don’t.

Many of my friends think I am crazy for going somewhere far across the country where I don’t know a soul. But to be honest, I have a tough time understanding their astonishment. I am a very independent person. I don’t get lonely and I don’t need people around me 24/7. I really enjoy my space.

With that said, I can’t wait to meet new people once I arrive in South Carolina. I have an extremely outgoing side of me that will help me make new friends and establish relationships. I plan to develop my new social circle by traditional means such as getting to know my neighbors, becoming very involved with the Coastal Carolina community, joining groups, finding a church, and making an effort to reach out to every person I come across with in the first couple months of my move. But I also look to employ a savvier way of introducing myself to others as well.

This past weekend my brother convinced me to re-download Tinder. Before I go on, let me in a sentence or two explain what Tinder is: Visualize an app that detects where you are geographically and then matches you with others who are in a given mile radius from where you are standing. Imagine that you can refine this search by selecting gender and an age range. If you like someone’s profile and they like yours, a line of communication is established by the app and a conversation begins…I give you Tinder!

Here is a look at my Tinder profile.

Tinder came out to great fanfare and controversy about a year ago. The younger generation fell in love with it while the older generation decried it as nothing more than a modern day hooking up service. I don’t know if I count as the younger generation or the older generation so I feel like I have a neutral authority when saying that the former generation had it right.

When Tinder exploded a year ago I downloaded the app to try it out. However, due to great demand the service wouldn’t work properly so I deleted it and forgot about it. My brother who is glued to his iPhone 24/7 doing a hundred different things will “Tinder” frequently. He informed me that the bugs were worked out and that I should give it a second chance. Over the past few days I have enjoyed the ease of talking with new, interesting, and likeable people around the greater Spokane area. I quickly became amazed at how many people are on Tinder and how quick and efficient it is to connect with likeminded people. You aren’t BSing with deceptive creeps thousands miles away. Rather you are conversing with well-intentioned and honest folks living in your own community.

This is the screen that pops up when Tinder is looking for people in your area.

As some have labeled it, Tinder is NOT an accelerated online dating service for fulfilling desires. Rather it is a social network for getting to know people who live around your area who you most likely would never have else met. It is efficient, precise, and trustworthy. I am excited for the possibilities it could provide me in getting a great start in developing friendships in Myrtle Beach.

I will have to do a bit more research with the people I “like” on Tinder while in South Carolina. Because Myrtle Beach is a tourist destination hot spot I will no doubt come across countless profiles for folks visiting the area for an amazing vacation. While I do enjoy meeting people from all over the country I am more interested in establishing contacts with the people actually living in the area where I call home. Probably for the better though, it will just help me to be that much more selective when viewing profiles.

If you like to meet new people I recommend downloading Tinder. If you are living in a new area I recommend it that much more. Oh how I love technology! Don’t Blink.