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Are you a sucker for stats about human behavior? Are you like me: someone who finds the study of your fellow neighbor totally fascinating and unbelievable? Have you read Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then the DTR podcast from Tinder and Gimlet Creative is for you. DTR stands for Define the Relationship. Season 1 of this dating podcast provides a glimpse into the lives of single people who are trying to find mates/partners/their one true loves via Tinder’s online app.
Yes, Tinder sponsored the creation of this podcast, but don’t let that scare you away. I presume that the intended target audience was single women and men in their 20s or 30s, but they totally hooked this married 37 year-old who has never even seen Tinder in action.
I did meet my husband via a dating website, but he was my first and only blind date ever, so I didn’t go through the trials and tribulations that most online daters endure.
And that’s what makes the DTR podcast so interesting to me! I love gaining insight on how people are meeting via Tinder, and how, most of the time, they’re screwing it up.
What DTR Gets Right
The most important thing that this online dating podcast does right is that it doesn’t over-play the relationship to Tinder. I’ve listened to the entire season of DTR (I devoured every episode immediately upon release) and at no point did I feel like the host, Jane Marie, was shoving Tinder down my throat.
I also didn’t feel like I had to be familiar with Tinder or how it works in order to understand the content. I mean, I know about swiping left and right, but that’s literally all I know. That didn’t matter; I was fully able to enjoy every episode of Season 1.
Something else that DTR got right: every episode provides helpful tips and information. In the episode titled Mixed Signals, Tinder’s data guru provides data that can help you get more swipes from potential matches. She says that directly facing the camera in a photo will make it 20% more likely that you’ll get swipes. Wearing glasses in a photo equals 12% fewer swipes. This is invaluable information, you guys!
Where There’s Room for Improvement
Many episodes are heavy on female perspectives and experiences. On one hand, this is a good thing because women tend to think that men are clueless about the opposite sex. DTR provides women with a hard look in the mirror: they’re pretty clueless, too!
Still, I would have liked to hear a few more stories from guys who were getting it all wrong. In the episode titled I’m a 5, He’s a 10, which explores the issues faced by people of different levels of physical attractiveness, a super-hot guy explains how he couldn’t convince his ex-girlfriend that she was pretty enough for him. This is a perspective that most of us can’t relate to, so this particular story didn’t work for me.
While I’m on the topic of things that didn’t work for me, some people won’t like this podcast because it can be vulgar at times. It’s certainly not intended for younger listeners. Episode 2 is all about photos of male genitalia, which, sadly, is a big part of the online dating scene these days. If you’re not into discussing this type of thing, the DTR podcast isn’t for you.
Season 2?
There’s still no word on whether there will be a Season 2 of DTR. I imagine that there’s no shortage of topics, stories, and data to share about dating in the digital age. I would love a second season that follows the same mood and rhythm as Season 1 (and of course, the same host.) Fingers crossed, everybody!
Have you listened to the DTR podcast? What did you think? Share your thoughts in a comment below.