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The Free Online Dating Fad: Why You Should Stay Far Away

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SCAD chapter.

 

I am known for my obsession with apps. In the last few months, these apps were all centered around meeting attractive people like Tinder, Hot or Not, Ok!Cupid and even Plenty of Fish. I will say that they are great for your self esteem. As a girl who always seems to be lacking in that area, my go to pick me up is not a glass of wine or retail therapy: it is hopping on those aformentioned apps and getting excited when someone thinks I am worthy of the hot button.

At first, it started as a thing to pass time. It is easy to swipe through profiles and finding out that there is actually straight cute boys in Savannah, GA. I was really happy the first time I got a message from someone in my area, not knowing what it would say. After opening it, though, I wished I had never downloaded the stupid app.

Right off the bat, sexually harassing messages poured into my inbox. Men sent me casual sex invites and extremely explicit and detailed messages of why I should climb into bed with them–like it was not any different from asking ‘hi how are you today?’. It was disgusting. Yeah, I would get swiped hot on Hot or Not, but it was at the expense of being degraded and catcalled via internet dating site.

Sitting down one day, I told myself that I should have known what I was getting myself in to. When you put yourself out there on those free dating sites, it is kinda like you are asking for the attention. That is where I stopped myself and re-evaluated my life. There is absolutely no reaason why a 20-year-old girl who is being honest with herself and lack of charm or boyfriend should make me thing that I am asking for the borderline verbal absuse I recieved just by making an effort to meet someone. There should be no reason why I should be programmed to think this way–that I am the reason I am getting so much grief.

It is amazing to see what men will say to women when they are hiding behind a dating site. It is actually incredible how disgusting and vulgar some of them are. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying all of them are that way. I have met a few really nice guys through me filtering out the gross ones with the ones who ask me how my day is and what I am interested in. The thing is, I should not have to search that hard. I should not have to subjigate myself to some of the things I recieved in order to find ‘the few good ones’. 

While dating in a female dominant art school where my golden rule is ‘gay until proven otherwise’ is hard, I honestly do not think it is worth it to have to hang around with the scum of the earth in order to find a significant other who may or may not be around for very long. If you are thinking about maybe joining the hype, do not. Scope out cuties with your friends at a coffee shop instead. Nothing is worth feeling like your body is worth nothing more than an vessel for sex depraved idiots.

Hi, my name is Meghann and I'm a sophomore at SCAD. I am originally from Huntsville, Alabama, and I'm pursuing a degree in Motion Media Design with a minor in Game Design. I am a huge nerd and I live for netflix marathons, crafts, and dishing the latest news about things available to SCAD students (especially free things!) I am so looking forward to working on the Her Campus: SCAD team!