Dating in the modern world

By: KENDALL ASBELL
Staff Writer
@kendallasbell

Tinder.

OkCupid.

Grindr.

Plenty of Fish.

Listed above are the names of just a few dating apps that you may be familiar with. You may even use these apps yourself.

In just a few short years online dating has expanded its market to cater more to young adults by launching apps that are easy and fun to use.

According to a recently conducted survey, 50 percent of IU South Bend currently use or have used a dating app. On a rating scale of 1-10, students gave such sites a contemptible 4.8. And while this rating is qualitatively not very high, surveyed students had wide ranging experiences. Some were drastically good, while others had comparatively bad experiences.

A number of people even noted that they might meet their future husband or wife online.

These apps are most popular among students between the ages of 21 and 25 with a rate of 57 percent saying that they have used some form of online dating.

One of the most interesting facts found was the change in usage between sexes as they aged. While under the age of 21, 52 percent of males said they engaged in online dating, while there was only a usage of 33 percent among females the same age. Lack of available females could possibly be the cause for the low app rating of 2.6 among males under the age of 21. However, after the age of 25 the percentages dramatically change. The use by males shrinks to 17 percent, while the female percentage rises to 71 percent.

As for the other 50 percent of students who have not yet explored the dating app world, 20 percent of them expressed that it was because they were already married or in a long term relationship. And 10 percent of non-users specifically expressed that they ‘do not need any help from an app to find dates.’ But there were also many females who expressed concerns about safety when meeting a stranger.

Online chatting safety has been a hot topic of conversation since the mid 1990s, when early chat rooms first emerged. This opened up a new online gateway for sexual predators to connect with young teens and even children. And now, over twenty years later, there is still no solution for avoiding unwanted encounters via the Internet.

One of the common tropes of dating app activity is that females often receive several (if not dozens) of messages a day, while males commonly only receive a handful a week (if they are lucky). Many females have expressed their aversions to most of the messages they receive because they are often disrespectful, or contain lewd comments. In efforts to respond to this issue, new apps like Bumble are emerging that only allow females to initiate the conversation.

Of course, it is hard to meet people when one is young, especially if that individual has recently relocated or he or she feels nervous around new people. As individuals age, however, maturity generally grants people the confidence to start making new friendships or romances. But dating apps can allow a young individual to circumvent the fear of meeting new people. It allows individuals to engage and interact with complete strangers in a relatively safe environment. The drawback, however, is that many young individuals may not actually be ready for the type of relationship that his or her dating counterpart is looking for.

Make no mistake online dating is quite popular. And its continuing popularity means that it is likely more than ‘just a fad.’ The dating app Tinder claims to have up to 50 million user’s a month and creating an average of 12 million ‘matches’ a day.

This way of dating – where people pick and choose potential mates based-on only a few pictures and a small profile instead of a face-to-face interaction – is alerting the way people link-up romantically. The consequences of such a shift in the social milieu may have unknown future consequences. Perhaps one day the hype of Internet dating will wear off, but that day doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.