Dating apps have revolutionized my dating life. I’ve never enjoyed the ritual of going out to bars and finding someone to take home. I find the alternative much preferable: posting a group of selfies captured months ago when the lighting felt just right, writing a few witty lines, and letting the messages come in while lying in bed catching up on episodes of “Scandal.”

Before using the dating app Grindr, if I saw a cute guy in my class, it would take forever to figure out if he’s interested in guys. They almost always weren’t. All of Grindr’s million plus users are guys looking for guys, and the app shows me the closest 100 users. Traveling around the Bay Area, there is a seemingly endless supply.

Dating apps do away with “will they/won’t they?” suspense. Before their existence, after finding out that the cute guy is interested in guys, it could take a whole quarter to find out if he’s interested in me. Having a great interaction with him gave me hope, and a bad interaction took my hope away. There’s none of that on dating apps; getting a response almost certainly means yes, they will.

The huge increase in prospective partners compels us to set strict standards. If the person we’re chatting with is only moderately attractive, or their personality seems a little off, what’s the harm in tossing them aside and resuming the search for a perfect match?

Once an acceptable person is found in the sea of untouchables, there’s the question of what to do with this person. Most users of dating apps aren’t interested in actually dating, but rather hooking up. The temptation is too great to skip the middle school courtship. Most people’s ideal is to hook up, and continue seeing each other until a relationship forms by default.

In my experience, hooking up with a stranger is almost a sure thing to fail. Communication of what each person likes is essential for everyone to fully enjoy the hookup, and this rarely happens in a first time hookup. After an awkward hookup, continuing the trend of searching for perfection, the easy solution is to write off that person as a dud and resume chatting with another candidate from the dating app.

My last relationship blossomed from Grindr. After I deleted the app, it still lingered in my mind. I was worried that the minute I said the wrong thing, he’d write me off and reinstall, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.

Less than 10 percent of the people I’ve met online are people I’m still friends with, and the few good experiences are sandwiched by tons of bad ones. I find myself opening Grindr out of habit, searching for the one who will make me want to delete the app for good.