A survey by Social Media Matters on online dating and online safety was conducted to seek responses from young people on what and how they feel about using dating apps. Over 45,000 + respondents took the survey and shared their views with us.
In India, the concept of online dating is becoming more accepted and popular among young people. Dating apps can help people find love, friendship, and relationships, but what really matters is how honest and safe the user is. Not only young people but users of all ages found these apps helpful in finding that special someone for them. But were they trustworthy and safe? During our research, we observed that 32% of respondents stated that they don’t feel too safe, and 34% opted that they don’t feel safe at all when it comes to meeting people via dating apps.
Pratishtha Arora, CEO of Social Media Matters, says, “The menace of fake profiles has entered the dating arena too, where users create profiles to spam and perform illicit activities. This indicates that we need a deeper and more focused discussion to look into verification processes that maintain privacy and authenticate the profiles.” The research shows that 33% of respondents agreed to have negative experiences with Dating Apps. Stakeholders, Experts, Activists, and Groups need to look into this deeply and flesh out the existing issues.
There have been conversations about the safety mechanisms dating apps need to build so that users feel secure while using the applications. In our study, we found that 40% of respondents indicated that they did not believe that dating apps have effective mechanisms to address their complaints. This calls for a more significant discussion around developing faster resources and tools to look into user complaints and make the experience better.
Users have also come across fake/scam profiles on these platforms. The issues are not limited, but they are more concerning as they receive explicit messages while using these apps. Most of our respondents also shared that they have received such explicit messages on their profiles. This clearly shows that users do not feel safe using these apps.
Contact Person – Arnika Singh, arnika@socialmediamatters.in
Social Media Matters is dedicated to ensuring the safety of users online, for which the team has been conducting awareness programs, workshops, survey studies, and advocacy.
