MASON STUDENTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE USING DATING APPS
By Mia Wise, Staff Writer
We live in an age where we can do virtually everything on our phones. We can pay bills, get food delivered from almost any restaurant, order an Uber to any location, and even find a significant other or a hookup.
“I’ve personally never used a dating app before but some of my friends use them. I would say the top two dating apps I’ve heard the most about are Tinder and Plenty of Fish,” junior Stephanie Crespo said.
An Abodo survey of 3,500 students found that 91 percent of college students aren’t using dating apps for hookups. According to the same survey, 34 percent of Tinder users said that they use the app mainly for entertainment.
With so many dating apps, it seems like almost everyone is being catered to. Most apps have an option for the gender of the person you are looking for and there are apps specifically for LGBTQ like her and Grindr.
“I met a girl off Tinder when I was coming out as gay. She was funny and smart, but being gay was new and scary to me so I didn’t follow through,” junior Olivia Beyer said.
Dating apps come along with the dangers of meeting strangers and people who may not be who they say they are.
“I think the idea of dating apps is very interesting, like it makes it so much easier to meet new people. I also think that it can be very dangerous because you are meeting someone you have never met before over the app and there’s this thing called ‘catfishing’ in this generation. Even though none of my friends have ever told me they’ve been catfished over a dating app, I’m pretty sure it still happens out there,” said Crespo.
Dating apps are an easy way to quickly meet people with the same interests. They can also be an easier and less intimidating way to approach someone romantically.
“Depending on how you look at it, dating apps can be both or either more beneficial or harmful. They can be both in the sense that some people are more straightforward on apps. It’s beneficial because it saves you time in seeing whether or not it’s something you want, but it could also be harmful because it sucks if you can’t seem to find what you’re looking for and you’re looking through so many potentials at a much greater rate than you could in real life, so you may feel like what you’re looking for is not out there, but really that’s just the pool you’re exposed to,” junior Regine Victoria said.
Although many people use dating apps for hookups or entertainment, it is possible that romance can blossom from a right swipe.
“Honestly, I’ve only ever met with one person off Tinder. I didn’t even know it would escalate as much as we did or for as long as we lasted, but it was genuinely the most bittersweet experience I’ve had with a guy. It’s kind of lame and cheesy to say, but I think I can wholeheartedly say, he might be the one that got away,” Victoria said.
Graphic by Billy Ferguson
