Social media harassment

The pressures of dating are higher than ever during young adulthood. Long gone are the days in which a couple would meet each other at your local Sadie Hawkin’s dance and live happily ever after. Today, all the rage is dating apps on our ever-evolving smart phones and tablets..

If you haven’t heard or used dating apps like Tinder, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish or Grindr, then you’ve likely been married for decades or you’re in the one-third percentile that met the pre-social media way.

While using these apps can be entertaining, one of the largest problems with online dating is the constant harassment received from men who can’t understand that not every cheesy pickup line they drop is automatically well received. To be fair, women could easily be on the other end of the harassment, spewing hurtful messages to men who simply aren’t interested, however women risk being labeled the unfair title of “thirsty.”

There are a few unspoken rules people are forced to abide by in the online dating world and most of these rules unfortunately apply to girls: do not message the guy first; do not double message during a conversation; don’t state what you’re looking for in your bio; be thankful for any and every lewd pic you may be “lucky” enough to receive in the first five minutes of conversation, because if you’re on a dating site, you’re asking for it. If you don’t follow these rules you will most likely become a victim of harassment from other users.

A popular Instagram account “Bye Felipe” is dedicated to screenshots of the harassment women receive on online dating sites, specifically Tinder. It is the latest Internet sensation since Alex From Target and it perfectly demonstrates the harassment received by many looking to connect with someone.

What many men obviously do not understand is perhaps the person they are messaging has already found someone else on the dating app, or out there in the real world.

So before sending a hateful message, consider what the other person may think when they receive it. It is not worth taking the chance of having your online profile put out on full display on a popular Instagram account — no one wants to be that jerk.

According to the account, the purpose of the page is to “call out dudes who turn hostile when rejected or ignored.” It is safe to say everyone at one point or another has received messages like these or worse.

Through the rubble and catfish messages, how many of the messages received on popular dating apps could be seen as potential relationships, friendships or hook ups? This is the question and also the answer as to why many women suffer through the harassment in an attempt to meet their potential mates.