Hookup culture and technology have made dating more difficult than ever, and college students are getting tired of treating dating as a game to play in their free time. 
Coming into college, women are taught to be wary of the men they meet on campus. In your hometown, you know everybody, and your parents know everybody. You know most people’s dating history, their reputation and what they’re looking for next. In college, everything is new, making it more difficult to sift through potential matches.
Dating in college has always been hard, but with social media, there is a whole new array of risks and benefits. Social media helps people run background checks on the new people they meet and make connections they may have otherwise missed.
However, social media also has many drawbacks. Apps like Snapchat and Tinder have made casual dating more common, which isn’t a negative thing, but for people who aren’t looking for something casual, these types of apps can make dating even more complicated.
The overwhelming use of dating apps for casual relationships has given many people the false sense that nobody is ready to settle down yet. In reality, people who are looking for something more serious are just overshadowed by the amount of people using technology to find one-night stands and non-committal-relationships.
While dating apps were originally created to help make connections that lead to relationships, whether they are casual or serious, these apps are now seen by many as places to go when you’re desperate or aren’t looking for something long term. So, anyone looking for something serious on Tinder can expect to meet people who are almost all looking for casual relationships.  These experiences give people the idea that there may not be any good matches ready for commitment on campus.
It is sad that technology, which could be used to make dating easier, has made the process of finding a partner much more complicated and confusing, when we all are really looking for the same thing.
The casual nature of college dating needs to change. This is a time where we are establishing lifelong friendships and learning more about ourselves every day. While it can be fun to meet new people and have temporary, casual relationships, students need to be more careful with the way they approach dating because there are more people than they think that are looking for something serious.
We are preparing to enter the adult world, and we don’t have time to treat dating as a game.
Mia Coco is a 19-year-old political communications student from Alexandria.