Dating applications may affect relationships and how people meet in the 21st century.
According to Dating Site Reviews, 75 percent of millennials have used or are currently using online dating apps to find a serious relationship. Only 22 percent admit to using online apps as their main form going out on dates.
Kelby Merrill, a senior biology major from St George, met his current boyfriend on Grindr and has been with him for a little over a year. He said is the best date he has been on since using the dating app.
“I think online dating depends on the person, but I think you can meet a lot of people through dating apps, but at the same time, you can get hurt which would be against a person using an online app,” Merrill said. “But again, it does depend on the person.”
It is easier to meet people on phone apps than in person, Merrill said. In order to make online dating successful, he said it is really important to communicate a lot with the person you’re interested in.
Candy Roland, a senior communication major, from West Wendover, Nevada said, “I’ve only dated through the apps Tinder and Bumble. It was fun and I met some people; you have to definitely be cautious and read the bio.”
If the person didn’t fill out the bio and some personal information about themselves, she said she would continue looking for someone who had taken the time to fill out their information. If they could not take the time to fill out the bio, then they were looking more for a hook up instead of a relationship, Roland said. She did not find a significant other, but she made some friends who she has continued to keep in contact with.
“I think with dating, in general, you should go on multiple dates and not settle for a relationship right off the bat, Roland said. “Multiple dates can be kind of hard to do and it really doesn’t trend with our generation anymore, but there are benefits doing this and it helps to find what you want in a person.”
Director of Radio, Shawn Denevan, said he met and married his first wife and his current wife by meeting on dating apps.
“I have met many wonderful friends that I still keep in contact with and I met through online dating sites and I met a nice plethora of crazy, crazy women,” Denevan said.
For some people, the fantasy of a person being a certain way becomes all-consuming and incorrect, which can be dangerous, Denevan said.
“It builds an untrue fantasy about the relationship. It is important to meet each other in person relatively quickly,” Denevan said. “I had a one-week meetup rule I stuck to.”
According to High Speed Internet, the state of Utah is listed fourth as one of the top ten safest states for online dating.
Five percent of marriages meet through an online dating service, according to Pew Research Center.
“I started online dating in 1997 with some of the websites that were out there, but the stigma of online dating overshadows what it really is,” Denevan said. “Online dating is just another way to meet another person. It’s the same way you would meet someone with a dating service or a random phone call.”
