Social media has allowed people to be out-spoken. While this has encouraged free expression, it has stolen all thought-filters and discarded them in a far-away land. Recently, women have been sharing on social media the objectifying messages that they receive from men on dating sites. Can the online nature of a dating app be held responsible?

The Guardian says that ‘The situations that play out in the digital sphere are, in short, a symptom of a misogynistic society rather than a contributing factor towards one. Well, what did you expect, wearing that skirt and meeting people on an app known for its salacious conversation.’I was disconcerted to hear such controversial opinions being portrayed so openly. The Guardian makes it clear that ‘it may be shallow and salacious, but don’t blame Tinder for online misogyny, for ‘the Digital sphere is a symptom of a misogynistic society.’ Is the digital sphere a symptom of the world we are living in, or would it be more accurate to consider it a disease?

Such an innocent attitude directed towards the virtual world is baffling. Everyday interactions demand a basic sense of decency, which may get discarded within an online conversation. As discussed above, the virtual world is regarded as almost an alternative universe, but not the extension of the one we are living in. This misconception is responsible for people treating the online world as a ‘safe space’, with entirely different rules and regulations.

Because the internet is ignorantly discredited, people forget that it creates a mask of anonymity. You can be anyone and this makes it easy to not take things personally. The same follows for rejection- which some may take as permission to post abusive messages. Everyone is aware that their ‘real’ life, ‘distant’ from the virtual world will not get affected and their reputation thus not scathed. Moreover, The Independent writes, ‘online dating apps like Tinder inevitably encourage people to judge one another on physical appearance. Due to the perceived abundance of partners online this can also prompt people to be less willing to commit, especially when apps encourage you to ‘keep playing’.

This hints towards the fact that the very nature of a dating app promotes objectification. Swiping left, right, up, and down, people judge their sexual interests by appearance. And when someone is not how the other expected, a research from sociologists at Manchester Metropolitan University focussing on heterosexual relationships found that ‘Male Tinder users think they are entitled to use unattractive women however they want.’ The study found that men often believe that if they go on a date with a woman who is less attractive than depicted in her dating profile, then they ‘have a licence to use the woman as they see fit’ to compensate for the perceived ‘breach of trust.’

This demonstrates that the sheer entitlement associated with the whole business of dating apps cannot, and must not be ignored. While the right attitude and respect for equality need to be ingrained, the situation is worsened when misogyny is almost encouraged. Perhaps, it is time that we all thought a little more about the consequences of our actions, whether online or offline.