The Tinder login screen– Tinder is a dating app popularized by its “swiping” feature where the user swipes left on a profile to reject it and right on a profile to “like” them. If both people swipe right on each other, then they match and they can start chatting.

By Lucy Jane Crimm

In the age of swipes and likes, college dating has undergone a significant transformation. Online dating provided a faster means to connect with potential romantic partners, but it also introduced safety concerns and cultivated a new culture surrounding dating.

Instead of venturing out to meet new people and investing time to determine compatibility, students can now gain insights into someone’s personality and lifestyle through a brief profile summary and chosen interests.

“One of the benefits [of online dating] is I can meet more people faster, I no longer have to go to the bar or go to parties. I can just hop on my phone,” graphic design major Travis Scribner said. “But I would also say that one of the drawbacks is that I can meet people faster because it can take that personal quality away… and it opens up the opportunity for completely weird and random people to ruin other people’s lives”

Dating as a college student presents its own unique set of challenges– many students recently graduated from high school and are still navigating the transition into adulthood. With many students moving away from home, family and friends, they have to build a new social circle and gain a deeper understanding of their own identity. Online dating can help alleviate some of the anxiety, awkwardness and stress that often comes with meeting and dating people through college events or in classes.

“My college dating experience could be better,” business major Ryley Henrie said. “A lot of people don’t know what they want, they’re not quite ready to know what they want, and then they change what they want so it’s just hard to know… On dating apps you see a lot more people. You might meet someone you would have never met otherwise.” 

But online dating also brought cause for concern. Having access to more people also means potentially having access to more dangerous people. Interacting through text, without the ability to gauge body language, makes it easier for individuals to deceive others and pretend to be someone they are not.

“Everytime I use [Tinder] it’s comparable to a drug deal,” Scribner said. “You don’t know who you’re meeting up with. You don’t know what kind of person they are, and you don’t know what their background is.” 

Scribner became more cautious after avoiding a potentially dangerous situation. He matched with someone on Tinder with plans to meet up. However, he grew cautious when she insisted on picking him up instead of him driving to meet her.

“There was one person I almost met with– she lived in Midwest and something about it just really seemed weird. Something about their… digital language, that’s the best way I can describe it. Something just seemed wrong,” Scribner said.

Online dating also fosters an environment where catfishing becomes more prevalent, which occurs when someone creates and uses a fake identity on social media. Henrie experienced a form of catfishing after investing nine months into a long-distance relationship with someone from Atlanta, Ga, whom they met on the dating app Taimi. The two of them would FaceTime every night and even watch movies together by syncing up their Netflix, but even then, they didn’t get the full picture.

“Eventually I got him to come down [to Casper],” Henrie said. “[He] did not look the same in person. I know you FaceTime to see if it’s the real person, and it was really him, but he looked different. Let me tell you, you don’t get the side profile or the height aspect on FaceTime.”

Not only did he not look the way he appeared to look online, but he also had a bad personality to boot.

Colleges can play a more active role in ensuring students can explore dating options safely. While there are plenty of school events that offer students the chance to get out and meet new people, some college students believe they could benefit from dating events on campus or safe spaces provided for in-person meetings.

“[The college] could totally make a meet up space where if you want to meet up in person, the college is there. They could provide a space, if anything goes wrong they know what happens. I think that would be cool,” Henrie said.

Students could also benefit from college events that put a spin on classic dating events.

“I think it would be kind of funny if the college put on a speed dating activity– where you sit in chairs, rotate and talk to one person after the next,” Scribner said.