Meeting new people on campus can be difficult, especially when everyone is bopping around with headphones on or running to class. With dating apps like Tinder and Grindr, it makes finding a partner so much easier than meeting people in person. While there is a convenience aspect to these apps, there are also dangers that might make students hesitant to use them.
Students all over Montclair State University are not strangers to applications like Tinder and Grindr. Both apps are used for the same purpose, which is to find a hookup partner. Tinder is described as an app that is used for anyone that is looking for a partner. Grindr is exclusively for bisexual and gay men.
Tinder also has swiping capabilities in order to decide if the person is your type or not. On the other hand, Grindr is set up to show profile photos, and the user decides whether to chat or not. There are also preferences that can be set for both Grindr and Tinder which include race, gender and age. Though the two apps have the same purpose, they also pose a great danger for students that want to meet someone through the screen of their phone.
Tinder’s settings allow the user to adjust the distance, gender and age of possible matches.
Apps may be a great way to meet people, but they can also get users into trouble. While meeting new people is easier through texting or calling, it can also cause someone to get “catfished.”
Catfishing has become a phenomenon in the past few years of the digital age of dating. The term has become popularized by Nev Schulman and his documentary, “Catfish,” which was later made into an MTV series, “Catfish: The TV Show.” Catfishing refers to pretending to be someone else online to rope people in to relationships.
Many people who have catfished others will grab a photo from someone else’s Instagram or Facebook and pose as a different person. With users’ faces hidden behind a screen, this gives someone the chance to create a whole new identity to trick others into thinking they are someone that they are not.
Even as chats may progress over the phone, there comes a time to meet each other in person. This is the moment where the catfisher pauses and thinks about what the next move may be. While the person on the other line might be madly in love and so excited to meet the other person, there might be a 45-year-old man who is posing as a 17-year-old boy.
There have even been situations where users have been kidnapped or have had their personal belongings stolen when meeting their Tinder or Grindr dates. There is no true way to know if you can trust the person on the other side of the screen.
Users from all around the world express their anger of using apps like Tinder and Grindr:
Lmao someone is using my pictures as a catfish on tinder. Rachel from TXST wildin. pic.twitter.com/RmPabqNdAh
— Rei 🔆 (@rei_johnsonn) September 13, 2018
Bruh, my sister is making a Tinder to catfish people 🤦🏽♀️
— lyss (@lyss_ab) September 13, 2018
GUYS I HAVE HIT TINDER JACKPOT THERES AN OBVIOUS CATFISH LOOKING FOR NUDES. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? THATS RIGHT TIME TO GET A FAKE NUMBER AND TROLL THIS DUDE pic.twitter.com/7frcaY7ZNu
— 𓍊𓋼 autumn 𓍊𓋼 (@timpani_queen) September 14, 2018
With all things considered, both apps are useful but run the risk of being dangerous. When students are sliding right and left on Tinder or chatting on Grindr, they have to make sure that they are careful with who they talk to.
