Dating Apps: Are They Really About Dating?

When I had written research papers in the past, I was expected to get information from the library and use journals and research, but this research paper was a little different. Our term project for my communication and popular culture class was to write a paper about a popular culture topic we were interested in. For my paper I chose online dating apps, I thought this topic would be interesting because it is something that runs rampant throughout college campuses. Overall, I thought I did a really good job on this paper, seeing my writing junior year I can really see how my ability to form and argument as well as integrate quotes has drastically improved from things, I wrote freshman year. When I look at my thesis for this paper, it is well thought out and really encapsulates the overall meaning of the paper in a clear and thoughtful way. It is, “In this paper, I will argue that dating apps do not actually facilitate dating, instead through their addictive and mindless nature they play into and encourage the low stakes hook up culture that exists within the millennials”.

Initially when I set out to write this paper, I didn’t realize that there were no journals on dating apps, the concept was too new. As a result, I had to get creative with sources and I turned to online. I was bombarded with different sites and I had a new challenge as to investigate what created a legitimate source. Similarly, using these online publications made it difficult for me to write in the formal fashion I was used to with research papers, I had to learn new ways of integrating quotes that would make it all flow together. I think I effectively did that here, “Since then online dating has only continued to grow in both popularity and acceptance in society, “by 2010, different dating sites existed for virtually every city, sexual orientation, religion, race and almost every hobby” (Lee)”. But it’s definitely an important balance that I know I will have to continue to make all throughout my life as technology because an ever present part of our lives.