When I was younger, I remember dreading the day I would have to start using online dating sites to find a relationship. I was stuck in this notion that it was pathetic and desperate to have to result to these sites. There’s so many people out there. Surely I would bump into “the one” eventually, right?
But seeing my older family members and their friends start making their accounts on eHarmony.com, Match.com, even Christian Mingle got me worrying—Are we all doomed to have an online dating profile down the line?
That’s not to say there haven’t been plenty of fairy tale endings, but these older generations are putting their heart and soul into finding someone. This isn’t a joke to them at this stage in their lives.
Then 2015 comes along, and we’ve got a whole new situation on our hands. Ever hear of Tinder, Bumble or Happn? You have. Well, everyone started using these apps, so naturally, I did too. I’m in my early 20s, so no way had I guessed that I’d be in this desperate-to-find-someone stage in my life. I mean, seriously, I live in a town where there are only people my age.
Regardless, I downloaded all three of these, each working a little bit differently, and tried them out. Most are based on location with the option to see who is nearby, a positive feature if you are headed to a new town and don’t know anybody. You can find people based on age, gender, interests and even just a friend to hang out with for the night. This is too easy, I thought. People are actually buying into this? Especially at our age?
I messaged back and forth with guys for some time, but always felt slightly uncomfortable. Not to mention how I felt when I got profane messages suggesting to engage in inappropriate, descriptive acts. These were just lovely.
This got me thinking, how seriously are people actually taking dating apps? Everyone uses them but are all these millennials really looking for someone to date?
On a Valley based mission, I asked some students on campus their thoughts on these apps:
“I mainly use it as a joke or to just mess around when I’m bored. I never really use it with the goal of finding a date,” says Jimmy Rios, a senior majoring in finance.
Jenny Lash, a business psychology major says, “I’ve never actually used anything like Tinder or Bumble, but I think I would use it for hookups or fun rather than a serious relationship.”
“Dating apps are something I use for fun and never use when looking for someone to date,” says Ryan Fiorillo, a senior majoring in environmental engineering. “If you happen to find a cool person by chance, then go for it.”
Arielle Krigger, a senior marketing major says, “Truthfully I don’t really use them at all, but my friends use them when they are bored.”
While dating apps are fun to use to kill time, meet people in new towns, or joke around with and make people feel uncomfortable, that may be the extent of them. 20-something-year-olds realistically aren’t ready for the online dating stage of their lives. In the meantime, there is plenty of face-to-face meet and greets to be had.
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