Singletons can breathe a sigh of relief now Valentines Day is long gone, but some of us are aren’t quite ready to join the Lonely Hearts Club yet.
We’ve rated three of the most popular dating apps for students from best to worst, to help make at least one part of dating easier.
Tinder 8/10
Good for: Meeting people nearby
Bad for: Time-wasters, Catfishing
Tinder is a great app for casual dating. The Tinder explore page now features a section to help you find your ‘vibe’. “Free Tonight?”, “Coffee Date”, “Animal parents” are just some of the sections the app has introduced to make it easier to find the right sort of person for you.
Tinder also tells you how far away matches are. If convenience is an important requirement for you, this feature certainly helps. Tinder profiles are pretty basic, and require the bare minimum information to set-up an account as dating apps go. Conversations usually spark up with standard conversation-starters, rather than questions/prompts encouraged on other dating apps, which some find makes conversation more natural. In terms of ease of use, and set-up, Tinder is great. Subsequently, this also means there are far more catfish profiles, make sure to beware of Tinder Swindlers.
Hinge 7/10
Good for: Getting to know people
Bad for: Ease of use
Hinge offers a more interactive experience than other dating apps. You can add voice prompts to your profile so you can actually hear potential matches’ voices before you swipe and send voice notes once you match.
Similar to Bumble, you can choose more information to display on your profile, such as political and religious beliefs and education level. And can also add captions to pictures and ‘prompts’ on your profile to better demonstrate your personality.
Overall, you’re more likely to gauge a person from skim-reading their h=Hinge profile than a week-long Tinder conversation. Hinge is viewed by many as the more mature dating app for youngsters. Not quite match.com but certainly not Tinder.
Bumble 5/10
Good for: Making friends
Bad for: Time-limited matches
This app gives you a deeper insight into potential new matches before swiping. For instance, your profile can display your height, preferences about drinking or smoking, and how often you exercise, which is helpful if you need more than a photograph to establish your level of interest.
The app has question prompts to help with ice-breakers to initiate conversations. And Bumbles extension – Bumble BFF – is also a handy app to make friends, if it’s not just romantic relationships you’re after. Major grievances from users include female users having to make the first move. Matches also expire after a certain period of time if you don’t contact them, which isn’t beneficial if you’re not regularly using the app.
Dating can be intimidating at the best of times, let alone when you’ve just moved to a new city. Using conventional dating apps is a good way to not only build confidence when it comes to dating face-to-face, but also familiarise yourself with new surroundings and meet new people.
General Disclaimers
Cross-check all matches! Avoid matching people in the same cliques, teams and classes. Trust me, it’s not worth the hassle.
Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with or seems unsafe. No matter how much you like someone, meeting in a public place during your first meet-up is always best.
Always make sure someone is aware of your whereabouts when going on a first date. Share your location with a friend or family member before going to meet someone new.
Don’t take yourself too seriously, but make sure you set clear boundaries. Unsolicited pictures are NEVER okay, and you’re doing society a service by reminding people of that. Even if it is something you are personally okay with. There is nothing wrong with just letting someone know straight up that what you aren’t comfortable with.
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