There are a lot of problems with the sex apps out there; too many ads, too many fakes, too many guys looking for money, and too many underage boys.
Ads – If you've been on the "dating" apps ever, you know they need to make money. We understand the reasons for the ads. Business is business.
Fakes – I travel a great deal and it seems like Sebastian Cross (Grindr) and Eliad Cohen (Recon) are everywhere. I've seen them in just about every city I have visited. Of course they aren't their profiles, but men just being slimy and using bait that is clearly not them. Going the extra step and reporting them does nothing at all.
Money Hungry Men – I understand the twinks looking to sell their bodies, poles, and holes online and masseurs looking for an appointment to make some money, but when people start saying they are soldiers stationed overseas and need funds (Adam4Adam) or men stating they are models waiting on their next paycheck and need some money to hold them over (Tinder), it's pretty lame.
I am sure you have your own horror stories; times you've blocked someone, times fakes have frustrated you, times you've been offered drugs, times you've been asked for money, or times you've said bye bye to a racist.
Grindr is the single most popular social app designed for queer men. It's actually the most used app out there when considering how long users stay on it (The Most Time Consuming Social Network Apps Are Revealed) Millions of daily users frequent the platform, which is reportedly available in 192 countries.
But Grindr also has a dark side. Hard drugs are traded, unsafe sex is solicited, racism is rampant and bullies can stalk individual users. These aren’t problems unique to Grindr. All social platforms have to deal with various levels of illegal or problematic activity from users.
The issue unique to Grindr is that it’s an explicitly sexual environment and has lots of users who are under the age of consent. Some lie about their age on profiles, but others go so far as to advertise how young they are. Concerned adult users are left scratching their heads about why Grindr isn’t moderating this, especially since it's been a serious problem for years. – alternet.org
Do you remember how easy it was to create a profile, to choose or not choose a pic, and is it even yours? Is there a user vetting process? I don't remember. But it is not just Grindr that doesn't have a good vetting procedure. They're just the largest target out there. Anyone with a smartphone can jump on numerous apps and find the sex.
RELATED POST: Teacher Accused Of Sending Nude Pics To Students On Grindr, Attempting To Lure Them Into Sex
Instead of vetting, many apps rely on users to point the finger at underage users, drug dealers, fake profiles, and so on. But those that like the drugs and like the underage boys, are they reporting?
What makes the situation especially baffling is that moderators have to approve every public photo that appears on the site, and moderation for nudity is strict. This means all photos of minors that appear on profiles appear to be manually approved. – alternet.org
RELATED POST: Protecting Our Youth: Man Arrested In Undercover Sexting Operation.
So we complain about these things, but are we willing to do something about it?
Would you be in favor of using a vetting service for apps?
Would this lessen the amount of non-out people on the apps?
Would this solve the issue of having underage males on our "dating" apps?
With middle school and elementary kids getting smartphones now, will this become a bigger issue?