DateMySchool not what it seems
This may be completely embarrassing to admit, but after yet another guy disappointment, I was looking for an ego boost from strangers. So I thought that before I knock online dating, I should give it a try.
Advertisements have appeared on campus for a site called DateMySchool.com, which purports to match college students with other college students and to be safe. So I set up my profile on a Saturday, and by Monday night, I had deleted it permanently.
There was the overall bellyaching about daily life, which is unappealing to me online and in real life. The website is set up so women can see men’s profiles only, and men can do the same with women. So, I can’t say what the women on the site are like. But if social media have taught me anything, it’s that the Internet is a safe haven for timid wimps to be reactionaries.
Among the more amusing site users was the guy who described females as “arrogant, greedy and stuck-up” before finishing with a common expletive. He then wondered why no one would message him back. There was another guy who misplaced his shirt and stated that “the girls on here are prudes,” because no one would talk to him either. The rest of the memorable guys simply played the pity card.
The bigger issue for me stems back to the safety. The website promises that “creepers” can’t log on and find users. However, virtually anyone could set up a profile as long as the person has a university email address. Generally, when people think of college students, they think of undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 22. Suppose a parent or a grandparent went back to college to get a bachelor’s degree, he or she could set up a profile with a university email address, given that the email address is the only real criterion. I was getting messages from men who were undergrads but were not in their 20s, as they were claiming.
In addition to the age and accessibility issues, the site has another downfall: the location listings. If a user writes where he or she goes to college, one of the “creepers” may be able to easily find the user. Like UIndy, smaller campuses generally are more close-knit. Although it may be hard to locate users within large school communities, the site could likely make it easy for users to find each other in a smaller school setting. Considering that for women, the options include older guys claiming to be 25 when they clearly are not and young men who write self-pitying status updates moaning about the pain of the single life, posting such personal information as where one goes to school seems quite risky.
DateMySchool.com promises to keep away “creepers” and to keep the environment for online dating safe and exclusive. However, given that the criterion of a university email address is so lenient, virtually anyone can get on and start perusing. I think I speak for many young women when I say that the thought of someone my mother’s age trying to flirt with me is unnerving. I also think that most women and men would agree with me that self-loathing, whining and passive-aggressive status updates to make the user’s life look dramatic are incredibly juvenile and unattractive.
Overall, I tell anyone thinking of DateMySchool.com not to bother. Everything we complain about on Facebook is here as well, but to a more obnoxious degree. The “safety” is a joke. I would feel more comfortable getting dumped in person and nursing a bruised ego than getting a declaration of love and commitment from a DateMySchool.com user.
