Tinder: use with caution
What happens on dating apps stays there . . . but maybe not every time
October 12, 2018
On college campuses, dating apps like Tinder are a common way to match up with possible romantic interests. Here are some of the experiences students have had using them.
New age flirting
Sophomore Koby Bailey said he has a special technique he uses for most Tinder matches.
“I don’t use pick-up lines, but I always use the same GIF that says, ‘Daddy gets a taste,’ ” he said. “It’s golden, works every time.”
There was one experience with Tinder that stood out most to Bailey.
“One time I matched with this girl and I messaged her. We met up that night. That’s all the story wrote,” he said.
Ex-boyfriend encounter
Freshman Chloe Spedden began talking to a guy on Tinder and met up with him a few times throughout a period of three months. Then out of the blue he asked if she wanted to meet his group of friends.
“I had nothing to lose, so I said why not,” Spedden said.
The two went to his friend’s house and instantly Chloe noticed her ex-boyfriend was there too.
Chloe and her ex started arguing, which resulted in her leaving the house. She never spoke to either of the guys again.
Not looking for sugar
Freshman Courtney T. had three separate incidents on Badoo, a different dating-based social media site, where men in their late 40’s tried to message her.
Two out of the three offered to be her “sugar daddy.”
Some messages were just uncomfortable, she said.
“Courtney you are crazy sexy, if you like older men hit me up,” one man wrote her.
Courtney did not appreciate the messages.
“I was not into it,” she said.
Wingman
“Tinder is how you find love in the modern world,” sophomore Mason Haupt said.
Haupt recently matched with a girl on Tinder after deciding to join the app again following some time away from it. They went on a coffee date together and the next day they continued to hang out.
“I ended up giving her Snapchat to one of my [fraternity’s] pledges,” Haupt said. “Then he hung out with her during a camp trip and I haven’t heard from her since.”
Unexpected positive
Freshman Chloe Cress recently downloaded Tinder U from the App Store, which is specific for college students.
“I didn’t take it too seriously until I got matched with this one guy. We just went on our first date this last Monday and it went really well,” she said.
Cress expected the date to be awkward, but it was anything but that, she said.
“He was such a gentleman, he opened every door for me and paid for my dinner,” Cress said.
Cress recommends Tinder U to other students because of her positive experience.
Explosive love
Senior Andrew Finley used Tinder last spring when he was studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain.
He wanted to meet some new people who were also studying abroad, he said.
“I ended up matching with a girl the weekend of a big EDM festival in Barcelona,” Finley said. “We ended up attending all three days together.”
They continued to see each other during the few weeks following the festival.
“We made plenty of romance explosions,” he said.