A glimpse into college dating sites
Social media has changed the way we communicate, including the way we approach and broadcast our romantic relationships both in real life and online.
While it’s opened up “a Pandora’s box of relationship destroyers,” the introduction of online dating sites has helped a considerable number of people find love and happiness.
The negative stigma surrounding online dating has arguably decreased in recent years, especially considering estimates that one in five serious relationships began online.
While watching television and browsing the web, it is common to see a myriad of advertisements for websites such as Match.com, EHarmony, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish. However, there is another market for online dating that does not receive quite as much attention -- the college dating market. The websites are specifically targeted to help students find romance.
In most cases, a college or university email address is required, which ensures it is exclusive for students. For those individuals worried about privacy, user accounts are typically not indexed and therefore cannot be found via Internet search engines.
Curious about the realm of online dating? Here are a few options for free, college-focused websites:
UniversityLoveConnection.com
It was perhaps the first of its kind when then University of Nevada Las Vegas student, Michael Rotkin, created the site in 2001 as an alternative and safe way for singles to meet at the student union rather than a bar.
The user base represents more than 2,500 colleges and the overall interface is easy to use. Rotkin said the team is working on revamping the site’s design elements.
DateMySchool.com
The most visually modern and interactive of the bunch, the public news feed and chat capabilities resemble features found in social networking platforms. The privacy features allow users the control over who may view their profile, and vice versa, based on schools in their region and age range.
The site was created by former Columbia University students Balazs Alexa and Jean Meyer in 2010. There are currently more than 100,000 users, with many of the users living in larger cities such as New York, Boston, Tennessee, Philadelphia and Chicago, said Public Information Director Melanie Wallner.
CollegePassions.com
During registration, users are given the option to sign up for more than 200 network sites geared toward specific interests, such as activism, cooking, even superheroes, to expand the community of potential matches. There are choices for chat, blogs and forums, though these features appear to be used less frequently.
Holly Pablo is Spring 2012 Paste BN Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.