By JADA MCGEE/Contributor
Finding love in college is like finding a quiet library seat during finals: rare, stressful and probably already taken.
“I think of people like me: awkward, shy and can’t talk to people in person,” Macy Bagby, a senior health science major, said.
Bagby views dating apps as a space for authenticity and freedom.
“Dating apps are a way to escape and be yourself without having to be face to face with somebody,” she said.
Escaping reality doesn’t mean escaping commitment. Some people go from matching over memes to matching wedding bands.
“I don’t think badly of them … but I do know meeting people online has led to healthy, lifelong relationships for some,” Bagby said.
TINDER TOPS DATING APPS
According to a Pew Research Center study, Tinder tops the list of frequently used dating sites and is popular among adults under 30. Nearly half of online daters have tried it.
Apps like Match, Bumble and Hinge hang out in the middle of the popularity pack, the Pew study found.
Not everyone is writing their vows in the app store. Some remain firmly unconvinced that online dating sites have value.
“Dating apps are the worst,” Rajala Buckner said. “I’ve never had any good luck, and when I match with someone, it always ends terribly.
If dating apps were graded, Buckner would be handing out “Fs.”
“If the guys aren’t lying through their bios, then they’re catfishing, and it’s exhausting,” Buckner said. “It’s really hard for me because I have kids, and people don’t like that.”
It’s all flirty banter until she drops the K-word; then, it is digital crickets.
FINDING LOVE ONLINE
While some struggle to find love in the digital maze, others easily navigate it.
“I met the love of my life on Tinder,” Jakayla Brooks said. She described their match as the moment everything started to feel right.
“We matched, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. There’s no one I would choose over him,” Brooks said.
She credited their connection to fate with some help from technology.
“He’s my endgame, and if it weren’t for dating apps, I wouldn’t be loved the way I am today,” Brooks said.
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