Posted on 10/19/2022 7:11:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Dating apps like Tinder are negatively affecting college students by causing trust issues, body dysmorphia and self-doubt.
Since arriving at Syracuse University, I haven’t met a soul that hasn’t had some sort of experience with dating apps. Some may be looking for casual hookups, some may just be using it for fun, while others may be using these apps to find a relationship. During the past couple of years since the pandemic, dating app usage has skyrocketed, with Tinder recording 300 billion swipes in a day and other dating apps recording an increase in activity. Hookup culture can be great for people who want the “no strings attached” feeling, but users don’t usually realize the negative consequences of dating apps until they are too into the game.
The average Tinder user spends 90 minutes per day on the app, rating people on their looks and a small biography with a maximum capability of 500 characters. Constantly swiping on others’ profiles or having people swipe on yours can cause stress, anxiety or depression. Dating app users experience more mental health problems than non-users. Many users may not share the same intentions and actions such as “ghosting” – or when a user stops talking to a person without any warning – or deceit can be common. The effects can be dehumanizing, lead to low mood, trust issues and self-doubt.
Another negative aspect associated with dating apps is poor body image and body dysmorphia. Users may start comparing themselves to the people present in the app and start believing that they don’t have a body worthy enough to be with the person that they see in the app. This, in turn, can lead to lower self-esteem.
Dr. Jessica Strübel, a researcher at the University of North Texas, conducted a study of over 1,300 people, and “found that being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the user’s gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction, body shame, body monitoring, internalization of societal expectations of beauty, comparing oneself physically to other, and reliance on media for information on appearance and attractiveness.”
Dating apps also contribute to a sense of disposability. People tend to forget that these dating apps are technological innovations that use algorithms meant to keep you engaged. Algorithms are meant to keep you coming back to the app and, eventually, make the user addicted.
Additionally, sometimes using the apps can be a safety issue. An investigation conducted by Columbia Journalism Investigations found that more than a third of women surveyed who use these dating apps reported being sexually assaulted or raped by someone they met on an online site.
According to Business of Apps, the highest percentage of Tinder users are between the ages of 18 and 24 at 35 percent, followed closely by 25 and 34, at 25 percent. College students range from 17-32 years old, approximately the ages when Tinder usage is the highest.
At Syracuse University, 92.4 percent of the student body is in this age range. Dating and hookup culture is an integral part of the college experience, but SU students have to see the reality of these dating apps. Navigating classes and myriads of responsibilities of being a college student can be overwhelming, and dating apps shouldn’t contribute to this. If students see that using these apps are negatively impacting their mental health, they need to consider taking a break.
This column is not meant to stop anyone from using dating apps, but rather inform students that there are negative consequences that can be avoided. Before using apps, people need to be aware of the negative effects and use these apps with caution.
Daniela Dorado is a Junior creative writing major. Her column appears bi-weekly, and she can be reached at ddorado@syr.edu.
Tinder is not a dating app, it’s for *******.
Yeah, well that is NOTHING compared to going to a bar 50 years ago to find Ms. Right and going home lonely. Talk about stress, anxiety and depression! These people think this is something new.
Reminds me of when I was head lifeguard at a health club. All of the dumb twenty somethings were using Tinder (one misguided twit was on Grindr, the gay app.) This one lifeguard, a beautiful but incredibly stupid young girl, was constantly getting her heart broken after she’d meet a guy, give it up to him and then get ghosted.
I was the boring married lady who was stuck in the stone age so they never listened to me — but it was pathetic to see how they were all getting eaten up in these apps.
It must honestly suck to be young these days. Thank G-d I was GenX.
Wrong...maybe when it first started. But now Tinder is above all a way to siphon money from desperate men and an egobooster for average and above women who use it to feel like the hottest girl in the world from the surplus of guys slobbering over them and to spam their instagram for followers with no intention of dating let alone giving the goods. Its a fertile hunting ground for spammers and scammers preying on desperate men, and a virtue signaling platform for the developers who constantly advertise how woke and feminist they are and dump on the men who make up the lionshare of their revenue. Its also a complete waste of time for said majority of men since the sex ratio is completely skewed to sausagefest territory and women unless they are medusa levels of ugly get flooded with likes to the point where they can’t sift through all the garbage even if they wanted to.
What are people supposed to do? How does this all play out? With so many people WFH, where/how do you meet quality people? Not at bars!
I met my husband at work a million years ago. My son met his beautiful wife through a dating app.
Times gave changed.
Gotcha. A dude I knew about 5-6 years ago used it.
I’m glad I am wrong about it, which shows I’m out of the loop.
I like meeting chicks in co-ed sports, or friends of a friend...
So not to defend Tinder, but my son was working a few hours from home and came across a beautiful local girl on Tinder. They corresponded (text/email/phone) for 2 months before they met for a date.
They got married during the Pandemic (that planning was wild).. and are approaching their 2 year anniversary.
Women and men who don’t use Tinder as a booty call CAN find life partners through the app.
A lot of people work from home or don’t work in a traditional office environment. Dating apps CAN be used for good.
Why would a 20 year old on a college campus filled with college babes need an app? If you can’t get a date just from hanging around a sea of cuties, an app isn’t going to help much.
Put the cell phone down and stop comparing yourself to other people. Find a Christian church with an age appropriate singles group and meet people who want to be good people. Or at least look like they are trying to be good people. I picked an occupation that had few women (commercial aircraft avionics repair). To be transparent, I did join a dating service in the late 80s where I met my wife.Long before the Internet.
Luv them 304s.
Well there you go. I never went to a bar to meet women. Never did hang out at bars. I’ve met women while fishing, at competitive shooting events, at other friends homes, shopping, at church, and on ocassion just by introducing myself to them if they perked my interest. I’d never use an app for dating nor would I want to meet a woman that way. But that’s just me. I’ve had my share of rejections as well. Just remember, faint heart ne’er won fair maid.
filled with college babes
My fiances college daughter comes home on occasional weekends, sometimes brings her friends. Not that this old man hates it but they are dressed so scanty there is no need for imagination it is all on display.
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