Gone are the days of cinematic romance, where you’d watch Al Pacino woo Diane Keaton with a hesitant smile and careful words or where you’d find Casablanca-style kisses and that black-and-white poetic approach. Recently, I read an article in Dazed & Confused Magazine that said romance is dead— and dating apps are the main suspects in the killing. Dazed News Editor, Serena Smith wrote, “Dating apps have sapped much of the romance out of dating. Within such a ruthlessly efficient system, there’s no room for yearning.”
Sofia Avalo, `26 reinforces this point entirely. She says, “Bring back yearning!”
And that’s exactly the problem: these apps are algorithmically designed to quickly and efficiently facilitate love, flings and everything in between. With our generation constantly adapting to new technologies and social norms, we’re all participants in a grand experiment: Does love really look so different in the digital age?
☆ Dating in the Digital Age
So what are students looking for around Stetson’s campus? Are we here for a good time or a long time? Well, I asked around and it is fairly split three ways. Some people are looking for long-term romance, some are looking for short-term fun and others are just putting their feelers out to see what awaits them.
Although many people have tried dating apps at least once, they don’t all have the same goals in mind. Some feel it’s convenient, while others are still undecided. The potential for connection is enticing, but it’s often interrupted by the quick-swipe culture and commodification of connection, leaving people divided on whether dating apps genuinely serve as the new meeting ground or just another hurdle in the “race” for love. For Blair Durda ’26, it’s hard to navigate. “I guess you don’t run into the people you’re hoping to run into most of the time,” Durda said. “You’re just finding people who aren’t looking for the same things.”
☆ Fire Starters: Tinder’s Effect on Campus Hookups
Perhaps one of the more infamous apps, Tinder is both celebrated and ridiculed for its role in hookup culture and quick-and-easy connections.
Avalo couldn’t help but laugh when asked about what she thought about Tinder. “I think honestly, a lot of people are on there just to hook up and not look for a serious relationship– hence why I deleted it so quickly,” Avalo said.
Nashaly Peralta, ’26 agrees that romance is put aside for Tinder’s emphasis on quick connections. “You don’t really know the person’s personality,” said Peralta, “It could be, quite literally, a psychopath behind that phone, and you have no idea.”
☆ Busy Bees: Bumble’s Approach to Femme-Forward Dating
Unlike Tinder, Bumble puts the responsibility of making the first move on women, and many are split on how they feel about it. Many appreciate it, however, some don’t love joining the other busy-bees on Bumble, specifically because of its approach to who texts first.
Avalo dislikes the forcing of women and femme-presenting people to text first. “I didn’t like Bumble that much,” Avalo said.
“I think out of those three [Tinder, Hinge and Bumble,] it was my least favorite. I just don’t like texting people first. Most of my friends who are girls also agree that we just don’t like texting first.”
☆ Unhinged: Finding Long-Time Love on Hinge
For students looking for lasting connections, Stetson students have found Hinge has a reputation as the “serious” app. Their tagline, “Designed to be deleted” is a popular reason for downloading the app. Although its profile prompts make for more engaging conversations, not everyone sees it as the “solution” to romance. On the same topic of Hinge, Durda said, “because I’m asexual… that kind of changes things. So for me, it’s been a really good experience.”
For this reason, Avalo has a better opinion of Hinge than other dating apps. She said, “Hinge– I think– is a little bit better, but some people on there can be very questionable still,” However, she believes this to be a very common theme throughout most dating apps, so she holds no fault against Hinge as a whole. “There’s always a ‘bad bunch’,” said Avalo.
☆ Drowning in Stetson’s Not-So-Olympic Sized Dating Pool
Plenty of Hatters often find it funny, yet still rather daunting, that other students on these apps could recognize them, and vice versa. “I actually sit next to a guy in one of my classes that I saw on Hinge and sometimes I’m embarrassed just because he probably also saw me so I’m just trying not to make eye contact with him,” Avalo admitted. “It’s not like I even met up with any of the people from there. So, you know, it didn’t really work for me, but I also wasn’t trying too hard. But, I know a friend that she’s been dating a guy for like, two or three years, and they met on Tinder. So good for them.”
Avalo isn’t alone in this thinking.“It kind of makes me a little nervous, because I don’t want people to, like, come up with assumptions about me based on me being on them,” Durda said.
Peralta had more to say on the aspect of anxiety on dating apps. “Just thinking about going to meet a random person is kind of scary to me,” said Peralta, “…you never know who’s really behind [that profile]. You hear so many horror stories, and you just don’t want that to happen to you.”
Peralta then says, “That connection you have with somebody initially [in-person] can also be an important part of the relationship; like that first feeling you get of little butterflies, and I guess you can’t get that off a photo. The vibes just aren’t there.”
When it works, it’s great. But when it doesn’t, it’s exhausting, leading many to question whether we’re any closer to a “real” connection. Love in the age of swipes may look different, but it’s not dead—it’s just changing.
Whether you’re on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, or simply letting things happen naturally, remember: real connections are out there. You just might have to keep swimming to find them.
