The cardinal complaint about online dating, other than the constant questioning of why did he feel the need to send that dick pic, is how difficult it is to meet online matches in person.
Tinder user Jackie Daddio decided to solve this problem by inviting every single one of her Tinder matches to a collective picnic. After making a Facebook event called Jackie’s Collective Tinder Date, she individually messaged over 600 of her Tinder matches a link to her event page and the message “Come to this. All my Tinder matches are invited.”
Jackie’s Collective Tinder Date promised a “picnic with potentially all 1800+ of [her] Tinder matches…there will be potato sack races, face painting, and other fun activities!”
Although for many this may seem like a strange way to meet people, the goal of picnic was clear.
“At the actual picnic, I really just want people to have fun,” Jackie said.
Several of her friends were invited and everyone was encouraged to bring their other Tinder matches too. One Tinder match offered to have his band play at the event, and other people offered to bring food or activities.
“Can I come dressed as Spider-Man?” one match asked in addition to offering to bring pizza. He sounds like a keeper.
Unfortunately, not everyone was feeling the same friendly vibes.
Many men were rude and downright awful to Jackie when receiving the picnic invitation.
One Tinder match responded to the invite by saying, “Fuck yourself, you’re a worthless cunt. You’re only lucky because of the desperation of men.”
Many others called her “crazy,” “weird,” or sent her unwanted sexually explicit comments.
In addition to the Tinder message harassment Jackie received, many of her guy friends criticized her for not only organizing the picnic, but also for posting screenshots of the rude messages she received on the Facebook event.
“Not just people I knew from Tinder but people I knew from real life, guys, were offended of me posting screenshots of what the [Tinder] guys had said,” explained Jackie.
“To me, I don’t think it’s offensive that I’m posting [the screenshots], I think what they said was offensive. So really you shouldn’t be embarrassed that I posted a screenshot of you calling me a cunt, you should be embarrassed that you called me that for inviting you to a picnic.”
Jackie’s Collective Tinder Date Facebook event page has sparked a discussion in Jackie’s friend group and with many of the Tinder matches she messaged. After receiving so many hateful comments, Jackie published an op-ed in one of her university’s news outlets to call attention to online sexual harassment. What was once a funny way to meet people and make new friends became a way for Jackie to confront a hateful and misogynistic online culture.
“It’s not fair that I’m inviting men to something where they could just say no and not come to my picnic when I don’t know what being able to just say no is really like,” said Jackie.
She further explained that when women typically try to say no to men’s advances, the common reaction is for men to not take the ‘no’ and keep pushing until they get their way or get violent.
Jackie said, “I’m on this site where people use it to hook up with other people… but I have every right in the world to say no” to any sexual proposition. “I shouldn’t be screamed at over the phone.”
Although the first picnic did not go as well as Jackie planned due to the dismal weather, a few Tinder matches showed up- including the guy who promised to bring pizza (he made good on his promise).
Jackie is planning another Collective Tinder Date Picnic for May 7th. Everyone is welcome, especially if they bring snacks to share.
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