By Marisa Young | Staff Writer
Thanks to technology, it is now possible for women to anonymously rate men.
Falling somewhere between Tinder and Yelp, the Tea app creates a forum for women to anonymously rate and comment on their experiences with men. After submitting a picture to prove their womanhood, users can add men to the database with a picture and first name. Other users can then assign digital red or green flags to each man and expand on their interactions in comment sections. The app also compiles resources such as a sex offender map, a criminal record search and various hotlines.
Sean Cook, developer of the app, said he created the app after witnessing his mother’s unsafe online dating experiences.
“Tea was built for one mission — helping women date safely,” Cook said in an interview with Authority Magazine.
According to Cook, 10% of the app’s proceeds go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Despite its original cause, the app has sparked a heated debate on college campuses nationwide concerning its legitimacy and moral implications.
A common concern voiced by opponents of the app is its lack of verifiability. Wylie junior Walker Sims said the app can be a breeding ground for false information due to the anonymity of users.
“You can say whatever if it’s anonymous,” Sims said. “Versus if you have a name attached to it, and it’s not true, everyone’s going to know you’re a liar.”
The possibility of false commentary and ratings can have damaging consequences for the app’s subjects, Sims said.
Since the Tea app functions as a public forum, there are very few regulations on content in the comment sections. Users have the ability to report untrue comments or misconduct on behalf of other users to the Tea app team, who review and remove comments — and users — as they deem necessary. A rising complication on the app is men impersonating women, adding further legitimacy concerns.
Despite its faults, some users hold that the app is greatly beneficial to women. Lacombe, La., junior Ayden Menesses said the app could help students avoid dangerous situations while navigating the dating scene in college.
“When I first heard about the Tea app, the concept made a lot of sense to me,” Menesses said. “Honestly, there’s a big issue now with trying to talk to a guy, and they end up being very deceptive. Especially in the college dating arena, you just don’t know.”
Though she emphasized the need to “take things with a grain of salt,” Menesses said that overall, she values the app as a dating resource. She attributed the potential faults to user error rather than the app itself.
“The concept of the Tea app is not inherently bad — the problem is cultural,” Menesses said. “The whole point is to uncover the truth by having people anonymously share their personal stories. But because it’s anonymous, you have a lot of lying and deception that can take place as well.”
Similarly, Sims said the app’s downfall lies in the intentions of users, who have the potential to corrupt a well-intentioned platform.
“I feel like it originally had pretty good intentions, making sure girls are staying safe out there,” Sims said. “I think it got misused once it got a little more personal, and it became less about safety.”
Menesses also emphasized the human tendency to highlight negative experiences over positive ones, which can cause imbalanced reviews.
“No one’s raving about how good the experience was, but if it was horrible, you’re going to make sure people know about it,” Menesses said.
The Tea app had over 6 million users as of September, according to an article by TechPolicy Press. Glamour Magazine also rated it best for women 18–65. The app continues its rise to fame by drawing both positive press and criticism to the table.
Carlsbad, Calif., junior Savannah Conner said in practice, the app is largely damaging and fosters overly harsh criticism.
“There are things on the app that are very bad, and people should be very much held accountable for,” Conner said. “But there are other instances where we shouldn’t be punishing people for making simple human mistakes.”
Conner said the commentary on the app exceeded the bounds of its intended purpose, which made her feel uncomfortable participating. While some comments are informative about the subject’s character, others degrade and make fun of the subject’s looks or sexual performance.
“Even having the app on my phone put a bad feeling in my stomach,” Conner said. “In theory, it was a good idea, and it could have been used properly, but people are using it way out of proportion.”
Despite conflicting perspectives on the Tea app’s implications, it continues to draw attention and engagement from male and female students alike at Baylor.
“It’s like a dumpster fire,” Menesses said. “You just can’t look away.”
