Akanksha name changed on request , a second-year student of mass media, has been using OkCupid for a few months now. For the year-old resident of Mumbai, the online dating app is like an escape mechanism. She has not revealed her true name on the app, using only a black box as a profile picture to protect her identity. Since her classes are happening online and interaction with friends is bare minimum, she logs in to the platform to share her thoughts with other users, all of whom are strangers.
Her parents are unaware of this, but Akanksha says she will stop using the app to chat anonymously once her college reopens or she enters into a relationship. Since , the digital world has been bridging the gap imposed by physical distancing. After a series of lockdowns and curfews, as social gatherings became restricted, online dating surged by leaps and bounds.
For many teenagers and young adults, online dating came as a saviour, and they used it, often anonymously, to share their feelings and escape isolation. Being able to vent anonymously, and date when trust is established, may seem to be a good idea, but it may not be always as safe as it seems.
Dr Sandeep Vohra, senior consultant, mental health and psychiatry, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals , New Delhi, says that those with communication issues or inhibitions and social phobia may find themselves excessively indulging in dating apps because of the ease of connectivity.
If the other person is genuine, the person with issues can open up, but on the flip side, teenagers and young adults may also fall prey to malicious people, he adds. The online dating surge has reflected in numbers. The dating app allows users to connect through live-streamed formats and games. The maximum users hopping on the online-anonymous dating trends are aged between 18 and 25 years, say experts. As for online dating platform QuackQuack, users aged years of age are looking for serious relationships and those between 18 and 21 years of age are the curious ones, looking to explore dating apps to make new friends and casually date or chat with other singles.
