Digital Matchmaking on College Campuses
Posted by casey on 07-28-2010
As more dating websites and digital matchmaking tools target college students, more studies come out that teens and twentysomethings are adopting a more casual attitude towards finding a significant other (or not-so-significant as the case may be…).
So is there a demand for these virtual dating tools in campus culture? Even if the expectations around long-term relationships have changed, dating is still very much a part of the college experience; everyone still wants someone to text, to poke on Facebook, to tweet at, and to ultimately run into around town. And for the students who are too shy to seek a crush out, maybe tools like anonymous crush confirmation site GoodCrush and mobile dating platform Skout will catch on.
In the past few decades, this “major shift” from looking for potential life partners to looking for a potential “person to take home for the night” has been widely documented by the media (and is just now abating with the rise of the “Generation Scold” discussion ). For every college student looking for just a hot hookup, it seems there are still quite a few looking for love and more traditional romance. And some are up for doing so digitally. According to the people at GoodCrush, a love-match website created by a college student that’s equal parts Match.com and Facebook (with a dash of Craigslist’s Missed Connections), the reason for college campuses’ anti-romantic state is because students simply need an “electronic middleman.”
But if the only thing missing from college students’ romantic lives is an electronic middleman, wouldn’t Facebook fit the bill? Facebook gives users a whole variety of ways to connect, from the super casual (chat, wall posts) to the slightly intimate (messages). Granted, GoodCrush is anonymous, but that might actually be a downside for college students, since the stigma of online dating is still very alive. I can’t make a sweeping generalization about all college campuses, but on mine, there is definitely still a stigma about meeting potential love interests online. It’s safe to say that it would be more socially acceptable — on my campus, at least — to meet a guy in a bar, go home with him that night, and then immediately start dating.
One way digital dating might become a little more socially acceptable is through mobile applications. An app that’s found pretty great success among young adults is Skout, which has used GPS technology to draw a million users. The founders told the New York Times this week that “it’s really combining the best of online dating and real-world people discovery.” However, until these sites and services reach the tipping point, Facebook, Twitter, texting, and, well, talking will have to suffice.
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Categorized under: Collegians