Flickr / Dima Bushkov

A new dating app called Tinder was recently brought to our attention.

A "normal" person at Business Insider told us about it, and said all of her roommates and college-age friends use it. A few have found dates on it.

(By "normal," we mean someone who isn't gadget obsessed, and isn't an early tech adopter.)

What is Tinder?

It's more or less a socially acceptable, mobile version of Hot or Not. If you saw The Social Network, you might remember "Face Mash," the product Mark Zuckerberg made before Facebook. It takes people's photos and lets other people quickly say if they find the person attractive or unattractive.

But Tinder is Hot or Not or Face Mash with a purpose. Instead of rating people for cruel amusement, it helps you find single people you're attracted to in your area.

If you're attracted to them, and they're attracted to you, both parties are notified. If one of you is attracted and the other isn't, neither is notified. And of course, if both parties don't' find each other attractive, they both go on their ways, never knowing what the other thinks.

Tinder was founded by four entrepreneurs Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, Jonathan Badeen, and Christopher Gulczynski, and it is backed by IAC, the parent company of Match and OKCupid. It recently launched on a few college campuses and it seems to be making the rounds. According to TechCrunch, more than 35 million profiles have been rated on the app and one million matches have been made in less than two months. 

We wanted to know what all the fuss was about. So we downloaded it and gave it a try. Here goes.

When you open the app, it welcomes you with basic instructions.

Tinder/Business Insider

If you like someone and they like you, it's a match! You're then allowed to message each other. If not, you go on your merry way.

Tinder/Business Insider

If you're worried about privacy, Tinder assures you your picks are safe and private.

Tinder/Business Insider

Let's go!

Tinder/Business Insider

Tinder works best if you let it use your current location. Then it will only suggest good-looking people nearby.

Tinder/Business Insider

If you let the app send you push notifications, it will ping you whenever there's a match.

Tinder/Business Insider

You can view your profile page and select up to 5 photos of yourself to show other Tinder users. You can also re-write your About section, which pulls in automatically from Facebook. So does your age.

You can also change your sex, which sex you're interested in, and how nearby you'd like your matches to be.

If you aren't feeling someone, you can either swipe left, or you can click the "X" icon.

Tinder/Business Insider

This guy popped up. But he's with three people and we can't tell which one he is, so we pass.

Tinder/Business Insider

This guy is ok, but there's a girl in his photo. Single girls might not be ok with that, so we passed on him as well.

Tinder/Business Insider

This guy has a cute dog. So sure, why not like him?

Tinder/Business Insider

You can also see more than just the person's profile photo and age. If you click on the photo, you can see a few more shots of the person, and read their "About" section on Facebook.

Tinder/Business Insider

Sadly, no one wanted to be our match. We must be unattractive.

Tinder/Business Insider

But our friend Valerie is not! She already found someone on Tinder.

Tinder/Business Insider

Actually, she found a lot of people on Tinder. Here's what her notifications look like (see the flame icon).

Tinder/Business Insider

Here are all her matches on the app. The blue bubbles mean she and the person have been messaging.

Tinder/Business Insider

Now check out other cool new things people are working on:

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