Best Dating Apps For Young Adults, College Students

Best Dating Apps For 18, 20-Year-Olds, Best Dating Apps For College Students, Best Dating Site For Young Adults, College Grads

Young adults have always been at the forefront of technology and some of the earliest adopters of growing trends. They know more than their parents now and even more than folks knew when they were their age. Everything is going digital these days, and that includes dating.

The stigma of dating apps is diminishing and we now have a generation that is eager to embrace technology to meet romantic interests. 10-15 years ago, people would be ashamed to admit they use dating apps but now, celebrities, models, executives and politicians have used dating apps to meet their partners.

The growing adoption of dating apps by popular figures has really expedited use by younger and younger demographics over the years. 

Do People In Their 20s Use Dating Apps? Dating Apps For College Grads

Given recent events such as the pandemic and remote learning coupled with a technology first mindset by kids and young adults, dating apps are becoming more and more popular with younger demographics. As you can see from the image below produced by Pew Research, younger folks are using dating apps at an astonishingly high rate.

Best Dating Apps For Young Adults, Dating Sites For College Grads, Students

Most people seeking relationships should probably stick with apps/sites like Hinge, Okcupid or Coffee Meets Bagel. Those are used by the youngest demographics. If you don’t have enough people on the app in your area, take a break and focus on yourself and meet people offline. In some cases you might need to wait to get older, move or just focus on offline efforts as dating apps reflect people in your area.

Should Young Adults Use Dating Apps? Dangers Of Online Dating Sites

I am a big proponent of dating apps to aid in the search for dating interests, but only when done so carefully and with a solid understanding of risks and implications. Dating apps are more dangerous than ever given increased popularity and are one of the fast-growing platforms to scam individuals, extort victims and cause further problems with mental health among its users.

The most vulnerable populations for these crimes are typically older folks/seniors, lonely/depressed individuals and young adults who lack experience, understanding and awareness of dating apps. There are countless stories of young adults who have been targeted for theft, recorded on the video or targeted for harassment or sexual assault. 

Whatever the numbers suggest, they are likely underreported because of shame, embarrassment or lack of proper reporting methods as well as prosecution. I do think dating apps can be an effective tool but I only recommend them to folks that first have experience dating and are trained to spot scammers and manipulators.

I typically do not recommend dating apps for folks under 25. They are the ones who will struggle the most, experience mental health problems and suffer from rejection, further loneliness and depression.

Why Dating Apps Suck A Young Guy, Why Dating Sites Are Dangerous For Young Women

If you are a guy, the gender ratios are atrocious upwards of 3:1 to 5:1 on some dating apps. You will likely experience an unhealthy amount of rejection, ghosting and low self-esteem. This can easily lead to depression if you don’t regulate usage, focus on offline connections and efforts to meet people organically, and are unable to spot scams on dating apps like sextortion.

If you are a girl, you might like those odds but what you are likely to experience on dating apps is harassment, liars, sexual predators and manipulators preying on young women who lack self-esteem, etiquette and maturity to ID red flags, assholes, creeps and sexual abusers.

Dating Apps For Recent College Grad, Is Bumble, Hinge Good For College Students

I get that people are lonely and craving attention, companionship and love. That is perfectly normal but if you default to apps/technology too often/quickly/early, you will regress in key areas in your life like social skills, communication skills, ability to read people, familiarity with healthy rejection, offline hobbies and interests as well as the ability to meet people on your own in organic environments, situations and events.

You will have plenty of time to meet people when you get older. Focus on meeting new people and making friends first. Join a sports team, take a class, volunteer in your community, take on a new hobby/skill, check out events in your area, join a club on campus, learn to talk to a stranger at a cafe.

There are a number of ways to meet people organically and if you lack friends, hobbies/interests as well as communication/social skills, dating apps won’t help you, they can actually make things worse for you.