First dates may be awkward when you aren’t sure if the other person has mutual feelings, but thanks to a new smartphone app, knowing if someone is interested in you is just a swipe away.

People can either “like” or swipe toward someone’s photo or swipe away. If two people swipe toward each others’ photos, the chat option is available for them to get to know one another.

Tinder has become popular among college students, including Tommies. More than 1.5 billion profiles have been rated or ranked to date, according to the New York Times.

Freshman Megan Nichols said she likes to use Tinder on her iPhone.

“It seems really cool because you can like people without them knowing you like them,” Nichols said. “You think someone is attractive, but they only find out if it’s mutual, so you don’t feel stupid.”

Opposed to the study conducted at the University of Winnipeg, which found that people who frequently text are more shallow, St. Thomas social media professor Betsy Anderson said she doesn’t think social media apps like Tinder make students more shallow since they are already quick to judge people in person.

“When you see another person of the opposite sex, you make quick judgements and find out ‘oh, that person who is average looking is really funny,’ and they look more attractive to you,” Anderson said. “Or ‘that person I thought was really cute is kind of a jerk’ and seems less attractive to you.”

Anderson said students are intrigued by the app because it’s easy to check out people without necessarily having the repercussions of a serious relationship.

“Opposed to a site like eHarmony where you have to fill out all these questions and you have to pay money, it’s kind of a low commitment way to check out online dating and check out profiles,” Anderson said. “It’s kind of low stakes, and it’s more for fun.”

Nichols said she isn’t looking for a serious relationship by using Tinder and has experienced several “weird” messages from other app users.

“People will straight up message you and ask if you want to do the dirty,” Nichols said.

But at the same time, she noted that some people are taking Tinder with more than a grain of salt.

“Some people take Tinder really seriously because they are actually looking for a relationship. It’s really more of entertainment for now,” Nichols said.

Freshman Isaac Onsomu said if he didn’t have a girlfriend, he’d download the app for the “talking to chicks” feature.

Senior Anthony Guidotti said he wouldn’t be interested in the Tinder app because he “doesn’t need help in that department.”

“I would not want to base my interest in someone just based off their appearance,” Guidotti said. “If you get to know someone because they’re in similar circles, you know them based on the same passion, same dream, same friends. That’s going to lead to a much stronger relationship than some app.”

Tinder shows mutual Facebook friends on the application, so the users have a way of knowing that their matches are legitimate.

Nichols said she met two of her Tinder matches through mutual friends.

“(Meeting them was) kind of weird. But the good thing was there was a mutual friend between us, so it wasn’t like a complete random person,” Nichols said.

Freshman Christiana De Leo said she had a Tinder account but deleted it after a few days.

“It just got annoying. There’s no point to it. Instantly, guys would chat me weird things,” De Leo said.

Freshman Alana Larson said she wouldn’t be interested in creating a Tinder account.

“I think it’s weird and creepy,” Larson said. “I feel like I would for laughs maybe.”

Stephanie Dodd can be reached at dodd0474@stthomas.edu.