When senior Ryan Chan’s friend asked him to livestream with them on Yubo, a networking application often used for dating, he agreed and downloaded the app. At first, he felt comfortable and enjoyed his time on the platform, mainly chatting with other Aragon students. However, it soon turned into talking to strangers, some of whom kept their cameras off to conceal their identities.
“At that point, I started getting a little uncomfortable,” Chan said. “Some people weren’t showing their faces. … You don’t know who you’re talking to [or] their intentions.”
Dating and friend-making apps such as Tinder and Yubo are rapidly rising in popularity, with Yubo’s daily users tripling during the pandemic according to Forbes. Now that teens are unable to meet new people face to face, many are turning to dating apps as a way to find new friends and even love interests. However, with the rise in popularity of these apps comes significant dangers, especially for minors. Child predators with shielded identities can easily prey on teenagers online.
“I think dating apps should be centered for adults [because] … online you can lie about anything,” said sophomore Adrien Amorim. “I could be a 45-year-old man from Queens, New York, … and nobody would know who I am.”
Dating apps, like most social media apps, can also perpetuate unrealistic expectations. This is especially pervasive among teens. Many seek approval from peers due to the rapid development of their social behaviors according to the North Carolina Medical Journal.
“I know a few friends who have [dating apps], and they only go on there to get validation,” said sophomore Alexa Latini. “[There is] that constant need [where people think] ‘I hope they add me back on that. I hope they messaged me.’ It just puts so much pressure on a person to present a perfect image of themselves on the internet.”
These glorified snapshots often make it difficult to build genuine connections in the non-digital world as interacting online is drastically different from bonding in person.
“[When] you look at the people around you, most of the relationships [people have] created are interpersonal and [are] ones that they’ve created authentically,” Chan said. That’s something to keep in mind.”
“Some people weren’t showing their faces. … You don’t know who you’re talking to [or] their intentions”
However, not all people are looking for long-term relationships on these apps. For Aragon alumna Florence Ye, a freshman at University of California, Los Angeles, Tinder has been a great source for casual relationships. She began using Tinder in January of this year after she broke up with her boyfriend and has had positive experiences on it but also acknowledges that it may not be for everyone.
“There are no strings attached,” Ye said. “It’s good for people like me. I’m not looking for anything serious.”
Ye elaborates that Tinder can curb the decline of social interaction due to COVID-19.
“Right now, nothing’s open,” Ye said. “There’s no nightlife, so you can’t meet people that way. Even if you go to the beach, it’s hard to meet people that way because everyone’s keeping to them themselves. … [Tinder is] easy and it’s fast and it’s free.”
Junior Marlena Marshall shares a similar sentiment to Chan, expressing the difficulties of connecting through a screen.
“When people go back, how are they going to communicate with people when it’s not online,” Marshall said.
These platforms could intensify pressure on teens to date and feed into societal expectations. The message that teens and children need to be dating can be spotted in Instagram posts depicting happy moments of a couple to children’s shows on the Disney channel.
“[It is] like with anything on the internet,” Latini said. “If people see it, they feel pressure to conform.”
Ultimately, though dating apps can be a feasible way to meet new people amidst the pandemic, teens must be wary of the numerous potential risks, from predatory behavior to blows to mental health.
