When you ask the parents of many college students today how they met the love of their life, or even just their significant other in college, you will rarely hear them say that they met them on a dating app. For many past generations, dating apps did not even exist, and if they did, not many people used them. Now today, a recent study revealed that around 91% of college students are currently using or have used dating apps.
When I first started college, I thought that not many college students actually used dating apps, and if they were using them, it was only to find hookups. After only talking to a few people about this, I found out I was wrong. It turned out that although dating apps are used by some people just to find hookups, many college students have also found serious relationships on these apps as well. Out of all the apps used, Tinder is the most popular of the dating apps with 84% of college students who use dating apps choosing to use this platform.
When using a dating app as a college student, it can be difficult to navigate as you can never be quite sure what the intentions are of the other people you are seeing and meeting on the app. Another study shows that 53% of students are using the apps to find friends, 27% are looking for a serious relationship, and 20% are just looking for a hookup. The thing about these statistics are that they are most likely not completely accurate as students may be apprehensive to share what their true intentions are on these apps because they are afraid of being judged. The relationships that are formed on these apps often run into complications, as people on these apps are also not explicit about their intentions with the other people that they are talking to. Many of the people that I have talked to have met people who they really liked and wanted to start something with, only to later find out that they had secrets they did not originally share or were not in fact looking for anything serious. Whether you are looking for a friend, relationship, or hookup, you can find someone on these apps. The downside of this is that it will probably take much time and effort to find someone who is on the same page as you are regarding what you are looking for, and even if you find someone you think is perfect, it will take time to find out what their true intentions are and who they really are as a person, not just the person they show you in their profile.
With the COVID pandemic regulations of social distancing and online classes making it much more difficult for students to find connections and relationships on campus, the usage of dating apps have skyrocketed. Studies say that many students who never would have considered using dating apps prior to the pandemic, are now using them due to necessity. The question now is if college students will return to the original way of meeting friends and significant others face to face rather than online. In my opinion, the use of dating apps on college campuses has risen so much that even after the pandemic, they will still be a huge part of dating and hookup culture for college students, but only time will tell.