Tinder, Bumble, Hinge Oh My!

Aeryn Schnieder, photographed by Umi Wimberly, behind Durrell Dining Center on February 24, 2024. She is wearing the necklace that her boyfriend gifted her for Christmas.

This is the story of Aeryn Schnieder, a 20-year-old who found a relationship on Hinge. She has been on-and-off using dating apps since she was 18, and now she's found something real.

Dating Apps. We’ve all heard of them, and they’re often seen as a “right of passage” since it’s one of the few things you can do once you turn 18. Some people are even so eager that they don’t wait and just download them whenever and lie about their age.

This is a common problem among high schoolers because apps like Tinder have a very loose age regulation policy. The app asks for your birthday but does not verify if that’s true through an ID picture or something like that. Even to download the app off the app store, the only barrier is them asking if you’re over 17, and you can hit yes with no problem!

This isn’t a problem for everyone though; some people don’t download them until later. Bella Welcom, a Senior at the University of Northern Colorado, didn’t download her first dating app until she was 20 and deleted it soon after without talking to anyone.

“I got scared,” Welcom said.

Even adults 25 and up use dating apps, although most times they’re more likely to use sites like Match.com.

For those who don’t download until later, they’re most likely to download on the first Sunday of the year. This phenomenon, dubbed “Dating Sunday”, is where apps like Hinge see their highest downloads and 53% more dates than any other month!

Aeryn Schnieder can be found in the first category. After downloading dating apps at 18, and 2 years of on-and-off use, she has found something real.

Schnieder had mixed feelings about dating apps, with some resistance to certain ones. This is a common trend, with about 56% of adults viewing dating apps and sites in a negative light. Tinder is her least favorite, because it’s gross, which anyone would agree with, and Bumble is a close second, although that’s just because she didn’t use it often.

Hinge is her favorite and not just because she met her boyfriend there. The entire platform is better! The profiles take more effort, unlike Tinder where people can have no personal information.

“I could see who liked me too. Oh, I loved that part!” Schnieder said.

It’s not always a positive experience, though. Schnieder talked about how seeing ugly people in her likes made her self-esteem lower.

On the flip side, liking someone and not getting a like back was a punch to the gut. She would wonder if something she said or her profile made them not want to reply.

These are both common themes with dating apps. People get anxious initiating contact, they’re worried about being judged, seeing people they know and the list goes on.

Some people are against dating app relationships, ranging from disgust to just “not their cup of tea.” Rachel Duran, a Junior at the University of Northern Colorado, is in this boat.

“I’ve just heard so many horror stories, I would rather meet someone in class or something,” Duran said.

Of course, I had to know how Schnieder felt about her first relationship coming from a dating app. Although it’s pretty common, with 70% of people saying they met a romantic partner on a dating app, many of those people have had romantic experiences before that, whether it was in high school or somewhere else.

“When I was younger I was like, ‘Oh that’s so unrealistic’ and like I’m just gonna find them in real life,” Schnieder said.

As she got older, however, she realized that that was a little unrealistic for her, who doesn’t go out much. She also added that making meaningful relationships can be hard when you’re busy, which makes dating apps a useful tool for meeting new people.

However, with the good there is bad. In her two years on dating apps, she’s had a lot of weirdos open with some questionable lines.

“A guy was like ‘Best crossbreed’ cause he saw that I had more than one ethnicity. I was stunned.” Schnieder said.

On a less humorous note, on her first-ever date from an app she was assaulted. This kept her from going on dates for a long time and made her take a step back for a while.

Luckily, her recent endeavors have been much more pleasant. She and her boyfriend started talking at the end of November of last year and went on their first date, and it’s been smooth sailing since then, despite some distance over winter break.

If you’re looking for a success story, this is it, but it’s not going to be instant. There will be trial and error, but the most important thing for you to remember is to stay safe.

“Please, please, please, be safe!” Schnieder finished.