For Cosmopolitan writer Dana, meeting her boyfriend through Tinder was something she didn't anticipate much less last long.
She was swiping right and left on multiple guys one night when she stopped on a picture of a guy who was passed out drunk next to a toilet. After staring at the image for several seconds, she decided to swipe right.
"It seemed like fate, in a weird way. A year and a half in, we're still going strong, so I guess I was right," Dana said.
During this past decade, dating has changed in numerous ways. Nowadays, people aren't meeting face-to-face. In reality, they are meeting through online dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble, and EHarmony. Although there have been positive results from meeting people online, there also have been negative results, especially for women.
"Meeting a boy online is dangerous," said Rocio Estrada, a wife and a mother of two. "There are always boys who want to take advantage of a girl who's looking for love."
For *Sophia Smith, a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she has stopped looking for love through online dating apps. After giving Tinder multiple tries, she's found herself in the same spot in the end.
"I've had zero success with online dating so far, and I've had more bad experiences than good experiences," Smith said.
Although Smith didn’t want to describe her experiences, she did explain it always ends with her “time being wasted.” Regardless, not everyone who's tried online dating has had a bad experience. According to research conducted by PewResearch, 57% of users have had a positive experience. In contrast, only 42% have had a negative experience.
Despite Estrada never using an online dating app, she believes that individuals who have had positive experiences have luck or destiny. Nevertheless, Estrada isn't entirely sure why someone would want to meet others through online dating apps, especially since anyone can falsify their identity, and it being a dangerous way to meet someone.
According to PewResearch, 53% of women think that dating sites are an unsafe way to meet people, which is in contrast to men, who only 39% believe it’s unsafe.
Before meeting up with a guy, Smith used to tell her friends where she was going, but she has never felt nervous or anxious. Regardless, she has had guys tell her rude stuff through the app.
“Once in a while, I do receive a rude message from a boy I swiped right on. If they aren’t rude, they’re explicit,” Smith explained.
PewResearch’s data shows that 33% of women have experienced men calling them an offensive name, and 11% of women have reported being threatened to be physically harmed.
In conclusion, it’s apparent that online dating comes with negative results, but it’s not always the case.
“I think online dating is what you make it,” Estrada said. “There are bound to be bad people in dating apps, but they're also good people. I just think you have to find the right one.”
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