Online dating has become the most common form of dating among college students. People seem to feel more comfortable approaching others online than in person. At first, you may think nothing is wrong with this, but there are negative effects lingering just under the surface. Online dating allows us to find comfort hiding behind our screens and letting social media be our first approach at communication.
Relationships often spark after a person “slides into someone’s DMs,” which refers to a person direct messaging someone he or she is interested in via social media. It seems as if no one sees the reason to approach someone in person anymore, when it has become so easy to find everyone on social media. ”Browsing profiles isn’t nearly as time-consuming as mixing with people in a social context”, author Ryan Anderson said.
As someone who is on a dating app, Tinder, I am constantly annoyed with playing the guessing game. Users can easily manipulate their profile to seem approachable. Users can add details from their height to their likes and dislikes, but you never know what is completely true behind the screen. That’s why MTV’s show “Catfish” has become so successful.
Many of my male friends have told me they use dating apps to avoid rejection in person. They save themselves the embarrassment and are able to build up the courage that they would’ve lacked in person.
Young people in today’s generation are so stuck to social media that they hide from reality. It seems as though they have become hypnotized and are controlled by swiping left or right.
Another claim men use to justify using strictly dating apps to approach women is that women don’t seem approachable. This is a coward excuse. If you are interested in getting to know someone, approach them when you first see them. What’s the worst that can happen? The worst that could happen would be rejection. Get your panties out of a bunch and go for the girl! But, prepare yourself for any outcome.
“It’s become more normal, so these days people think, ‘Why haven’t you tried online dating?’ rather than the other way around,” clinical psychologist Jessamy Hibbert said. “And the generation doing it now have all grown up online while when it was first out, that generation of 20-30 year olds hadn’t grown up with the internet in the same way.” Growing up in Generation Z, born between 1991 and 2001, we’re pretty much raised by the internet. The internet becomes all that we know to help us function, so why not bring our dating life into the mix, as well?
Is technology really the best way to find your soulmate? Tinder registers more than a billion “swipes” per day. Sounds addictive, and it is. I find myself swiping left and right so often as if it were my hobby. The downfall is that you match with so many attractive people and you both are texting for a while, but when are you two going to finally meet?
After getting the basic introduction out of the way and ensuring the guy isn’t a jerk who immediately tries to hook up, what is next? You text, trade numbers and if you’re lucky, you get to FaceTime. It’s rare to actually set a date. Why should you waste your time playing phone tag and starting to feel something when it will likely go nowhere?
Online dating is a waste of time. You can tell a lot more about a person when you meet them in person. There’s no bio to help you or any filters to hide the real you. Try giving reality a try with your dating life.
With all the matches you have on Tinder, you’ll likely still find yourself single on Valentine’s Day. Something has to give.
Te’Kayla Pittman is a 19-year-old mass communication freshman from Atlanta, Georgia.
