Students talk about dating apps in relation to the Valentine’s season
For those meeting up with their Bumble or Tinder dates for the first time, butterflies often flit around in the stomach and there are worries around whether or not the date will actually go well in-person. After establishing a strong friendship and romantic feelings, however, Bumble dates can turn into relationships that many would not expect from a college dating app.
Angelica Nemani, a second-year international relations major, started using Tinder last summer as a fun way to meet guys for more than just hook-ups. When she didn’t find anything serious or interesting on Tinder, she moved to Bumble, where she met her now boyfriend, and had her first date at Yogurtland.
There are many different kinds of expectations for college students who use dating apps. While some are looking for more serious relationships, others just want to find a way to have fun and hook-up. With the Valentine’s Day season in full-swing, many students are in the market for some sort of romantic relationship.
“I don’t think there’s a general consensus among college students regarding why they use dating apps,” Nemani said, “I will say that many of the Davis students that I found on these apps seemed to be interested in hook-ups, but I can’t generalize and say that it’s true for every college user.”
In this sense, dating apps can have various outcomes that result in happy endings, bad endings and even awkward endings. The latter of two of these possible outcomes turns many students away.
Second-year sociology major Catherine Amaya doesn’t suggest using dating apps since she believes that people have the ability to put on different faces. She has only used dating applications twice, and the first time was because her friends pushed her into it. After her experiences, she decided that she was not interested in meeting anyone through that medium.
“I think they’re weird and people can have different personalities over text than in person,” Amaya said. “I also think they are mainly used for finding something fun and not serious.”
February is the month of candy hearts and stuffed teddy bears, dating apps have the potential to be used in the spirit of the season. A 2018 article in the Business of Apps reported that, “40% of US college students say ‘;Tinder is for hookups, and Bumble is for dating’, though 54% of claim that there is no difference.”
“The only warning I have about dating apps is that there are a lot of different people out there and some have different expectations than others,” Nemani said, “If a guy or girl messages you just because they want to hook up, I don’t think it’s fair to get offended by them because a lot of people have different expectations when they start using these apps.”
To Nemani, dating apps can be a positive thing if you know what you’re looking for.
“Ultimately, I learned that you have to really get to know a person before you can jump into anything with them and even give them a chance before you actually reject them, because you might get lucky and realize that they’re perfect for you,” Nemani said.
Written by: Sierra Burgueno — features@theaggie.org
