HOPE SMITH
managing editor
hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

One way or another dating apps were going to be a thing. 

It’s just not practical to get intimate in comment sections or customer review sites, though of course it’s a situation where there’s around 99.99% confidence like that of antibacterial. 

The comment sections and customer review sites hold the 0.01% with no shame. 

And maybe that 0.01% loves dating apps, too, because who hasn’t heard the horror stories? It seems like every dating app story ends with a darkened world view and sprinkle of trauma. 

Regardless, this deters absolutely none of the 323.9 million users as of 2021 browsing online dating apps. With everything wrong about dating apps that number is concerning, but are these people wrong for embarking online where the goal is to find other people doing the same?

There is no straight answer because it entirely depends on intentions.

For women, intentions are so crucial. The initial interactions for women who look for men online are like a horrid game of russian roulette––dating edition––where each match is a trigger pulled and instead of just one bullet there’s also a thumbtack and a little red flag that says “BANG!” 

For women, meeting men through a dating app is texting your mother and friends where you are going, with who and for how long. Because some women don’t get to go home alive.

So much trust must go into both parties because at some point when they meet it’s a step off into the deep end and they must pray the other can swim. All of the talk has to amount to some walk. 

But for people who are tired of being alone and genuinely want the human connection that dating apps are made for, it’s not horrible. Technology advancing communication has always been a double-edged sword, and there are innocent people who can meet other innocent people.

Sometimes, online dating apps have a specific thing that can’t just be found anywhere. “Farmers Only” fosters the farmerly love of this country, it does a great service. On a more serious note, it has benefits for groups of people like those who are LGBTQ because it makes it easier to find others with the same sexual orientation.

Transparency and education is one of the most important things for people who are involved in dating apps. Being upfront about what a person wants will get them faster results than beating around the bush and wasting another person’s time. 

The stigmas may continue to stick because it is an imperfect world, but more statistics and information on dating apps will help people make educated, well-rounded decisions on what they involve themselves in.

To quote Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” which probably isn’t what he intended the quote to be used for but he must agree if he prefers a population who can reject someone who fights the reasonable part of them to simply greet a new match.