In the 21st century, we can find love in the palm of our hands. At the age of eighteen, single teens can sign up for their first dating website, the most popular being tinder. Tinder is a platform where you can see single men and women seeking relationships, and chat with them. Users swipe right on people they like, and left on people they are not interested in. Of course, this is solely based off of appearance and a 200 word bio.
Our ancestors had to go out and approach people in real life if they were looking to start a relationship. Online dating is not always negative, in fact, it can be a positive experience when used with caution.
Since teens today have grown up in an era where technology is abundant, they tend to expect much more from their partners. In fact, the pew research center says, “85% of teens in a romantic relationship expect to hear from their partner at least once a day, if not more often.” While this is a scary thought, when these same people’s significant others were surveyed, the result was nearly the same. About the same percentage expected to hear from their significant other at least once a day, if not every few hours. Online dating is typically looked down upon, but the fact of the matter is that it’s just a different way of dating.
People are beginning to use dating apps at a younger age. It was only two years ago that Tinder banned people under 18 from using the app. Their previous policy allowed those over 13 to sign up. There was an obvious issue with adults and children using the same dating app. Tinder told the Guardian that about 7 percent of its users were between the ages of 13 and 17. This may not seem like a big number, but when you put it in perspective with the millions of people who are on tinder, that 7 percent seems much larger.
Online dating does have its’ positives, however. The internet allows us to communicate with nearly the whole world. This gives us the opportunity to find the perfect match. Our elders are concerned with online dating – rightfully so. But do they have room to speak when the divorce rate is, as stated by the APA, at almost 50 percent?
While our parents met each other in the grocery store and gone on dates without really knowing each other, adolescents today are able to find their soulmate with the click of a button. We’re able to communicate with each other so much more effectively with the help of technology, and we’re able to really get to know one another without wasting much time on just one person that might not be a perfect match.