The app lets users anonymously upload pictures of men, and other users can then react to the images with a red flag or green flag, indicating their feelings about the individual shown. There is also a comment section where users can interact with one another. 

Criminal justice and psychology junior Avery O’Brien said users of the app mainly consider it as a tool. 

"I would say it's like a resource for people to know good and bad things about people in the area," O’Brien said. 

Additionally, O’Brien said many users use the app for similar reasons. 

"There will be some people saying, ‘Oh my God, who is this guy? I saw him at the bar, he's really cute, help me find him,' and people will reply, with good or bad things being like, ‘I know him from this, I know him from this,'" O’Brien said. 

"There are some girls I could see going out and doing it for vengeance and just wanting to s--- talk a guy. But I also can see some people saying, ‘Hey guys, I had a scary interaction with this guy, ’ or I've seen people being like, ‘Hey, be careful. He's nice, but he does like to roofie people, or get girls really drunk.' That kind of stuff, just so girls are aware."

Similarly, supply chain management junior Abby Potoff said the app helps women identify the men who may not be safe to be around. 

"This allows for other girls to alert each other on maybe some of the not-so-friendly men on campus that you may want to stay away from," Potoff said. "So it's really a great resource to understand who might be, not dangerous, per se, but who you might want to stay away from based on how many red flags, like some guys I've seen have 60 red flags that I (personally) know, and we definitely want to stay away from them…"

As a user of the app herself, O’Brien said Tea helps reveal similar thoughts from other women about the men shared on the app.

“I think it's funny. I see things (and) I'm like, ‘True, I had that same experience,' and I'm like, ‘Oh, phew,' like, that kind of thing,” O’Brien said. “I don't know if it's validating, but more like, ‘Okay, cool, like, awesome, yeah, that makes sense.'"

However, advertising management senior Chloe McArthur said Tea doesn’t create just positive effects.

“I personally like, when my friends were telling me about it, I thought it was kind of mean and like putting people's business out there, and it just kind of felt like cyberbullying to me,” McArthur said.

Similarly, Potoff said the app itself has its pros and cons.

"I really think the purpose is wonderful, and I've been learning a lot about what some of these opinions are from girls on campus, and it's been a great resource for girls to look out for each other," Potoff said. "But, I do think there is a large extent of cyberbullying. A lot of these comments are very mean, and I'm not quite sure how the men are feeling about this. I haven't quite talked to them, the people who have been featured on the Tea app. I'm sure they aren't too happy about this, but some of these comments are just straight-up bullying."

In terms of cyberbullying, Potoff said some users may "take it too far."

"If they really dislike a person, they may be spreading some allegations,” Potoff said. “It's all completely anonymous, so you really don't know who's posting who you're talking to. It's just a bunch of random usernames, and you really don't know who is on the other side of the screen posting these comments."

To ensure that only women are users on the app, Tea has verification measures that every individual wanting to use the app must go through first.

Potoff said users must submit a photo of themselves, wait for the app to verify it, and are either allowed in or denied.

However, just recently, the Tea app has been removed from the App Store for violating Apple’s requirements, and after raising security concerns following a data breach during this past summer.

But, Potoff said these concerns don’t necessarily bother her. 

"Our face is already everywhere, and they're not asking for identification; It really just is a selfie, no identification," Potoff said. "As long as we're not asking for an ID, where it confirms, like, our birth date (and) who we are, our face can be honestly anywhere."

Similarly, O’Brien said the issues don’t worry her, but she understands the concerns surrounding the app.

"(I feel) honestly, fine,” O’Brien said. "I can see why it would be taken down. Like, some people just don't want their business out there. I can see both reasons."

However, for McArthur, the issues would most likely cause her to stop using the app if she were an active user. 

"I feel like a lot of people don't know about the data leaks and stuff, like, I heard about that (in) one of my classes,” McArthur said. “But personally, it would deter me (from using the app), but I don't think others will be deterred."

Similar to the Tea app, a rival app called TeaOnHer was launched this past summer, but was also taken down on the App Store for the same reasons as Tea. 

The premise of TeaOnHer is the same as Tea, except it is marketed as a dating safety app for men.

TeaOnHer also has similar security measures put into place as Tea to ensure only men are able to access the app.

Although TeaOnHer was created in response to the Tea app, Potoff said launching TeaOnHer is "understandable."

"I don't really have any opposition to it," Potoff said. "I mean, if there's an app for girls to do the same thing, then I think guys can also have a platform to do that. I think it's fair and understandable. Maybe guys wanted to understand the same thing, understand what other men's experiences are."