IS the smartphone revolution sullying the online dating world?

The old paradigm for online dating was a website like eHarmony or Match.com. Courtesy of an elaborate algorithm, you studied detailed profiles of potential dates, initiated contact through an anonymized email system and, if you got a response, began a conversation that might lead to a date. Perhaps with your future spouse.

The new paradigm is a mobile app like Tinder. You quickly browse photos on your phone, swiping to the right if the photo appeals, to the left if it doesn’t. If the attraction is mutual — that is, if both of you have swiped right — you might try to set up a date for, say, five minutes later. The pleasures of married life may not be foremost in your mind.

Critics complain that Tinder is a hookup app, a good way to pursue a one-night stand but a lousy way to start a serious relationship. But this is a false dichotomy. As a psychological researcher who studies online dating, I believe that Tinder’s approach is terrific for pursuing casual sex and for meeting a serious relationship partner.

Historically, I have been ambivalent about the online dating industry. In 2012, before Tinder existed (and before smartphone-based dating went mainstream), I worked with a team of researchers to publish a comprehensive assessment of the industry. We concluded that online dating had produced one immense benefit for singles: It expanded the pool of potential partners. But there was also a big problem: The industry’s two major ideas about how singles should get access to one another were misguided.