With all the rapid advancements in technology and media, it is no surprise to hear of someone trying to find their life-long partner through an online dating app. The many free options available make it too easy and common for people to start using these apps with the possibility of becoming addicted.

Using apps to meet with strangers is a dangerous practice that is being performed by too many people nowadays. Some risks that people who use dating apps face include rape, child grooming and attempted murder.

Recently, 13 year old Nicole Lovell became a murder victim because of her meeting with a college student from Virginia Tech, David Eisenhauer, through social media. Although she was not necessarily using a dating app, her communication with him through the app Kik began a relationship in which she thought the boy was her boyfriend.

On January 27, 2016 Lovell met with Eisenhauer and was later found stabbed to death in North Carolina. This is only one of many incidents in which speaking to a stranger online or through text led to murder.

Last year, there were 412 crimes linked to dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr. Countless police reports mentioned dating applications and continue to do so now.
Certainly, people are aware of the dangers that could come with the use of dating applications, but many of them, especially teenagers because of their stubborn and premature personalities, choose to ignore those possibilities.

Hearing of endless crimes taking place because of dating through apps or online should push people to quit the habit. However, many overlook the risks and continue to communicate with people they have never actually met.

Teenagers might be using dating apps because they fear physically meeting and talking to people. With social media and texting being things they have become so used to, it is likely that they are uncomfortable and scared to actually chat with other people outside of their phones.

But the truth is, beyond some pictures and lines of text, you have little awareness of a person’s true intentions. It is terribly easy for someone to fake their identity and make themselves seem like a genuinely good person. The best and only way to avoid being tricked is to delete these dating apps completely.

Besides, why use an app like Tinder when according to research from GlobalWebIndex, it is found that 42 percent of its users are already in a relationship? Chances are there is a big possibility you are matching with a cheater!

Get off these apps, go outside, and actually meet someone face to face. Does that really sound scarier than meeting up with a criminal you have been chatting with?