A leading dating expert has hit out against dating apps, saying they 'have to invest more time in pushing a safe sex message'. Why? Because the ease and rate at which we are able to bonk (yes, the word bonk is still knocking about) correlates with the rate at which we're able to contract gonorrhoea – or any other STI – and you can't deny that Tinder is paving the way to bonk-town.
In more professional terms, Dr Peter Greenhouse told Newsbeat: 'You are able to turn over partners more quickly with a dating app and the quicker you change partners the more likely you are to get infections. If enough people change partners quickly, and they've got other untreated sexually transmitted infections, it might just start an explosion of HIV in the heterosexual population. Apps could do that.'
It's true that certain STIs have seen growth in recent years – with syphilis (the one that, if untreated for decades, makes your face cave in) seeing a 33% increase and gonorrhoea (uh-oh you're infertile!) seeing a 19% increase in 2014. On top of this, Google cites its most downloaded apps for Android as Tinder, followed by Happn and Match.com - but Marie Cosnard, head of trends at Happn, told the BBCthat there isn't really a correlation: 'Dating apps are following wider social trends and changing behaviours that have been unfolding for decades,' she said. 'There's a liberalisation of attitudes towards the number of partners, the status of relationships, towards marriage, divorce, etc. So the rise of any STI is not really connected to dating apps themselves. The problem is much wider. People need to be more educated in terms of sexual health and to take their responsibilities, no matter how and where they've met their partner.'
While dating apps have seen a huge rise (The Online Dating Association estimates that between 25 and 40% of all relationships are now sparked by them), STI testing has also become a whole lot quicker and easier – which could account for the rise in positive results. As in, more people are testing positive for an STI because there are more people testing in the first place.
Whether the rising syphilis rates are to do with Tinder and Happn remains to be seen – but one thing is pretty certain: wear a goddamn condom (or rather, get him to wear a goddamn condom) and go get yourself tested if you haven't been for a while. Tinder safely, guys.
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Photo: Eugenia Loli
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.