Dating App May Not Be the Best Idea for Teens

This issue’s featured app is an anti-recommendation: Tinder. It’s an 18+ minimalistic dating service that’s incredibly popular among high schoolers despite the age restriction. The premise should make most parents uneasy: it allows users to pair up with local strangers based solely on their appearance, leaving the duo to organize a get-together.

If both users swipe to the right on each other’s photo and brief bio, the two are matched up and free to message each other with the intention of going on a date.

Even among adults, the whole process is seen as sketchy at best. The app isn’t known for cultivating long-term relationships. One should assume that most of the people they match with are likely chatting with other people at the same time. In other words, it probably isn’t in your teen’s best interest.

The icon for Tinder is a cartoonish red flame over a white background. Even if your kid is over the age of 18, caution should still be exercised. —Contributed by Luke Igel, freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology