Dating apps literally take the uninhibitedness of the Internet and combine it with the horned-up vibe of a bar on Saturday night so… yes. Things can (and do) go awry, and polite flirtation can turn into harassment before you even realised you have a new match.
But which dating apps serve as breeding grounds for the most cases of harassment? According to a new survey conducted by Consumers’ Research, Tinder and OkCupid are the worst dating apps when it comes to harassment.
Of the several hundred dating app users polled, 39 percent of respondents reported harassment on Tinder, and coming in at a very close second, 38 percent reported harassment on OkCupid. The harassment also functions on gendered lines: far more women (57 percent) reported being harassed than men (21 percent). And of course these numbers come as a bit unsurprising, considering how Tinder and OkCupid are also among the most popular, free dating apps available, and also considering how Tinder basically feels like a men’s locker room that women occasionally wander into and OkCupid is a free-for-all, with zero boundaries in place to keep creepy dudes from messaging with reckless abandon.
This is just to say be careful out there and don’t hold back on using the block button. Or if it’s truly bad, and someone is making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, report that shit. People who use dating apps to harass others are just ruining the experience for people who are using the apps to actually find something meaningful, whatever that may be.
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