An AU student caught the attention of Time, the Washington Post and InTheCapital after devising a new way students can easily trade or receive meal swipes by using Tinder.
Julia Reinstein, a junior in School of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences, created a Tumblr account called Swipe for Swipes after realizing there was a better way for students to find meals in the last stretch of the semester.
“It’s gotten so much bigger than I expected. Tons of students have put the Swipe for Swipes info in their Tinder bios, so it seems like it’s is really catching on. “ Reinstein said.
Swipe for Swipes may have garnered new users, but the Time, Washington Post and InTheCapital articles question if the system works.
Washington Post writer Caitlin Dewey tried the system without success.
“After swiping through at least three dozen Tinder profiles, I encountered not a single meal offer or request,” Dewey said in her article.
Reinstein says that the system might not have worked for the writers at the Washington Post and InTheCapital because they did not limit their search to people in the AU and Tenleytown area.
“Unless the reporters specifically came to campus to test it out, the fact that it didn’t work for them means it’s working,” Reinstein said.
Despite not working for a few people, Reinstein’s says she’s seen many students use the system in the early stages.
“The first few days after I made the Tumblr, I would swipe through Tinder just to look for who was doing it,” Reinstein’s said in an email. “I found at least 30 people, but the idea spread so far after that I lost the ability to track who was actually doing it.”
Reinstein’s Tumblr instructs students to make an account on the dating app Tinder and change the information in the “About Me” section to “I need a meal swipe” or “I have spare meal swipes.” Then, students can be matched with other students that have meal swipes.
“Most students with excessive swipes are underclassmen, and many students short on swipes are upperclassmen – and most of the time, these groups don’t cross paths very often,” Reinstein said. “I figured if there was a way I could pair up students who don’t know each other for a meal, everyone would benefit – but how can students who don’t know each other find each other? Then it hit me: Tinder.”
Reinstein advertised the Tumblr account in the Facebook group ‘Free and For Sale’ used by AU students.
Reinstein mentioned she has plans to find other ways Tinder could be useful outside of dating.
“I’ve thought a lot about how useful an app similar to Tinder would be for matching up people to split cabs,” Reinstein said. “For example, if you’re at Union Station and want to share a cab to Dupont Circle, you could log in and find people to split one with. I want to invent this and name it Splitsville.”
