It’s as easy as swiping right or swiping left.
Or is it?
In today’s society, it’s easier than ever to find a romantic partner. The availability of social media and numerous dating sites allows for people to find relationships, some that could end up lasting a lifetime, all at the press of a button.
General management sophomore Kevin Collins agrees with this idea and praises the ability of social media in terms of finding a partner.
“I think that using social media is a great way for people to meet, especially if it works out in the end,” Collins said. “As long as everyone acts with a certain degree of respect, I don’t see any real negatives about it.”
Communications senior Saige Stump also agrees with the impact social media has on finding a romantic partner, but also brought up possible negatives in the whole schemata of things.
“I think that social media is definitely changing the way that people see relationships,” Stump said. “I’m in a relationship myself, and I’ve had past relationships in which I’ve broken up with people because of social media. It gives people the unlimited opportunity to maybe see where I am, and harassment becomes an issue.”
While social media has plenty of positives, Stump does bring up a point about harassment, and the negativity it can bring to dating.
Social media gives anyone in the world the opportunity to be a first-class stalker, and stalk anyone they want. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others give people the opportunity look at posts and pictures of others without the person knowing about it.
Dietetics Sophomore Anju Kothari said social media can be used negatively.
“Because social media is more on the anonymous side, it definitely has the potential to be more un-anonymous,” Kothari said. “At the end of the day though, that’s just something that you deal with I guess. There’s always going to be negative people, and people are always going to take advantage of the anonymous opportunities that social media gives them, so you just kind of have to ignore them.”
While social media itself presents a new gateway to finding a romantic partner, dating apps make romance their number one goal. The popular dating app Tinder, has become an extremely popular dating tool during a short period of time.
Engineering sophomore Corrine Calhoun admits she has used dating apps in the past, but sees the problems those kinds of sites can provide as well.
“I had Tinder at one point, but I deleted it because I honestly thought it was dumb,” Calhoun said. “I honestly believe that getting into a relationship over a dating website can be sort of risky. I think those kinds of sites give people the opportunity to say things that they would never say in person.”
Technology has provided many new ways to romantically connect with someone, but in the process it might have wiped the old-fashioned ways.
Marketing freshman Frances Cotten embraces the old-fashioned way of meeting new people, and prides herself for it.
“I try to stay away from all of the dating apps because conversation, I believe, is incredibly important,” Cotten said. “I think its so important that if anyone wants to talk to me, they come up to me and we look each other in the eyes, so I can really get a feel for the person as a human being.”
