Written by Jordan Barela, Editor-in-Chief

Our lives have become so integrated with social media that most everything can be done with an app. Digital is everywhere you look.  Society as a whole has moved towards this digital direction.

Now, you can find a significant other or a quick fling online.

While this is not anything new, “digital dating” has overtaken college campuses everywhere. Gone (almost) are the days of meeting a person in a bar, instead you meet someone through an online profile. The days of going up to a person you are attracted to and giving a simple “hello” have been traded for “yaking” about that person anonymously.

VSU is no different.

With apps such as Tinder and POF, college students, particularly VSU students, are going for the digital connection with someone.

But what does the research suggest about this digital dabbling in dating?

First, the definition of “hooking up” must be defined. According to authors Amanda Holman and Alan Sillars in their article “Talk About ‘Hooking Up’: The Influence of College Student Social Networks on Nonrelationship Sex”, a hook up could mean a couple kissed or had any form of sex.

In the same article, the authors conducted a survey which included almost 275 participants. The results of the survey suggest that “hookups are common but far from a universal part of the student experience.”

The Spectator also sent out an anonymous survey about the same topic. The survey asked seven questions about hooking up or dating through the use of social media and apps.

According to the survey, 37 percent of participants have used an online dating or hookup app. However, 72 percent have reported knowing someone who has used a dating or hookup app.   For the participants that have used dating or hookup apps, Tinder was the most popular followed by Plenty of Fish or POF.

Given Yik Yak’s popularity on campus, a question about Yik Yak was a part of the survey. It is not uncommon to go on Yik Yak and see what is called “yaks” about hooking up and offering hooks up. However, the survey reported that 90 percent of participants have not hooked up with someone through Yik Yak.

While hooking up is very common, it is not a prominent part of the college experience like it is believed to be. The surge of digital has only made dating and hooking up more effortless.

Dating can be done with the simple touch of a phone screen. And with the notification of an app, hooking up can be arranged with a single swipe.