The Dangers of Tinder Towards Young People.
Annotated Bibliography
1) Locker, M. (2014). Oops: Kindergarten Teacher Accidentally Posts Class Photo to Tinder. Time.Com, 1.
This author discusses about a teacher who accidently posted her class photo to her Tinder. The elementary school teacher, Jennifer Carnley, is a real person who had a terrible accident on Tinder. Carnelys Tinder account somehow linked to her professional Facebook page instead of her personal one. This exposed a picture of her elementary class on the hook up app. If teenagers believe they are keeping information to themselves, they never know where it could be leaked. This shows one of the risks of Tinder and how easy it is to unintentionally post to the app. This article is a good example of a real incident which has happened using the Tinder app. Melissa Locker is wrote this article for Time, which is a credible source.
2) Stampler, L. (2014). Think Your Date’s a Sex Offender? There’s an App for That! Time.Com, 1.
This author is straight to the point and addresses the dangers of the Tinder app. The app is mostly used for hook ups and not serious dating. This article also features an app with facial recognition to check your matches for being a sex offender. The app NameTag, runs potential matches through the National Sex Offender Registry. Co founder of the app, Kevin Alan said, “I believe that this will make online dating and offline social interactions much safer and give us a far better understanding of the people around us.” As all the other sources have shown, safety is a huge worry for parents of teens using the Tinder app. I believe that Tinder should partner with an app like NameTag to provide a safer environment. This author of this article is Laura Stampler. This article was written for Time magazine and she has a good reputation of being a credible reporter.
3) Naziri, J. (2013) Start-up Sunday: Tinder aims to make dating easier. Los Angeles Times.
This author explains the basics of the Tinder app and how it works. This is a good article for people who are unfamiliar with the app and want to understand what the craze is about. It also expresses how the Facebook connection is a safety feature which makes it harder to make fake accounts. This is something that concerned parents would be comforted to hear. The author interviews Sean Rad, one of the creators of the Tinder app. Rad recognized that the app is targeted to a young age group, specifically college students. The app has many plans for growth, but no plans to improve safety were mentioned. Jessica Naziri is the author of this article written for the Los Angeles Times. This is a dependable paper and source for information on the Tinder app.
4) Teitel, E. (2014). Hey, didn’t I see you on Tinder?. Maclean’s 127 (4), 71.
This author does a great summary of the Tinder app. It explains how it is very popular among the younger generation. It also emphasizes on the fact that the Tinder app is mostly for “no strings attached” hookups. This is exactly the reason that parents of teens are concerned. However, the author does address the Grindr app. If people are looking for a hookup, this is the place to go because it features much more anonymity than Tinder. So in some ways, this author suggests that Tinder is much safer than other common dating apps. This is a professional product review and features dependable information.
5) Stampler, L. (2014) The New Dating Game. Time, 183(6), 40.
This author discusses how the Tinder App turns dating into a game. It is bad for kids to view it as a game because it interacts with real people, most of the time much older than them. Teenagers often turn to this app for affirmation and a confidence boost because it only shows your matches. For many, the app has become a common pastime game. All of these things show how difficult it is to find a healthy and serious relationship on the Tinder app. The author, Laura Stampler, has done a lot of research on the Tinder app. She is a creditable writer for Time and is very knowledgeable of the Tinder app.
6) Twitter source – Tinder has seen a 400% day-over-day increase of new users in Sochi since the Olympics opened.
https://twitter.com/elanazak/status/434087920182767616
The author of this twitter source explains how Tinder has become dramatically more popular since the Sochi Olympics. It also states that the average user spends 77 minutes on Tinder a day.This tweet is linked to the Huffington Post so that makes it more credible.
7) There might be more security issues with Tinder than you thought
http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/warning-online-daters-dating-app-tinder-isnt-safe-after-all/#ixzz2t3ODkprR
This author addresses the security issues with the Tinder App. Tinder has made a few security changes since the app was created. They have dealt with many security breaches and are making the app more difficult to hack. This shows that Tinder is trying to make progress and make the app safer for the users. However, according to Appthority, Tinder still is putting users personal information at risk. Most of the personal information leaked comes from the individual users Facebook page. This author uses many creditable sources in the article. Quotes from the creator of Tinder are included as well as facts from Appthority.
8) Scary facts parents need to know about the Tinder app
http://www.chicagonow.com/tween-us/2014/01/tinder-app-parents-facts-scary
This author warns parents about the safety issues with the Tinder App. The author argues that Tinder is not acceptable for young teens. For example, Tinder facilitates face to face meeting by revealing the location of the user. Even though Tinder is only for legal adults, the App Store rates Tinder as being for 12+. It is important for the parents to be aware of what their children are doing on social media. It also encourages parents to warn their children of the dangers this app includes. This articles information is taken from Tinders website or stats in the App Store. This shows its credibility.
9) Heaney, Katie. The Real Reason Tinder is so Popular. (2013)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katieheaney/the-real-reason-tinder-is-so-popular
This article gets to the truth about why Tinder is very popular. Through social media you are able to make yourself appear much better than possible in real life. Sometime this is to the extreme of actually creating an online person who is actually not you at all. This is known as “Catfishing,” many know this term from the MTV show which busts fake profiles online. This article is dependable because this is explaining the reality of our society. The author is relatively young and she is dealing with this in her life every day. Buzzfeed is also usually a reliable source.
10) Flaherty, Laura. 5 Ways to Spot a Catfish
http://campus.ie/college-life/personal/spot-a-catfish
This source ties in well with the last one. These are practical tips to help you spot if someone you are talking to is a catfish. This is something that parents should share with their kids to help them become more aware of their surroundings. Some signs include always cancelling plans and never wanting to video chat. These show that someone is hiding something from you. This is a safe and reliable site which features a lot of tips and advice for college students.
11) Muston, Samuel. Meet Tinder-AKA the Shy Grinder
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/meet-tinder—aka–the-shy-grindr-8460863.html
This article continues on the thought of catfishing. It explains how this definitely could be a tool for catfishers, however it could also get rid of them. With the GPS you have a much higher likelihood of actually meeting people face to face. Most catfishing people usually avoid contact and are long distance relationships, simply to keep their false identity a secret. This article is written by a user of Tinder so he can testify for how the app works and for the type of people using the app.
12) Shotwell, Kristin. Tinder Impostors- Story of My Stolen Identity http://kristinshotwell.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/tinder-impostors-story-of-my-stolen-identity/
This article is about a girl whose identity was stolen on Tinder. She had friends see her photo on a profile that was not hers. This is a very scary idea and something that is actually happening to people. She is trying to raise awareness of the dangers of Tinder and share her story. This is a reliable source because this girl is telling her own story and wants to raise awareness to stop bad things from happening on apps like Tinder.
13) Connectsafetly.org
Connect Safely is an organization mostly consisting of parents and educators. This website offers tips and safety advice on how to safely use technology.
ConnectSafely.org is for parents, teens, educators, advocates – everyone engaged in and interested in the impact of the social Web and mobile technology. Here you’ll find tips, safety advice, articles, news, analysis, video and other resources to promote safe and productive use of connected technology. It also includes lots of resources and contacts if you want more information on safety. This organization appears to be very reliable.
14) Twitter answer source #1
I asked several online and social media safety organizations what their biggest concern is about Tinder. Safe tweeted me back expressing that the GPS is the biggest safety concern. They also added the advice that children need to be taught about safety on social media at a young age. This is something that I believe many parents could be reminded of.
15) Twitter answer #2
My second answer on twitter was actually in response to another one of my answers. It shows how this is a very small community working on raising awareness. They agreed with Safe that the GPS and messaging is dangerous. They also expressed that it is important to explain to children about the dangers of meeting up with people they have met online.
The Dangers of the Tinder App Towards Young People 