3 Trending Teen Dating Apps Parents Should Know About

Teen dating apps are a thing, let’s start there.

This can be a shock for parents. Gone are the days of teens unspooling the phone line around the house to talk to their crush, in the hopes that a sibling or parent doesn’t overhear.

Since apps like Tinder set the stage for online dating, where one just needs to swipe left, right, up, or down to indicate potential matches, dating was forever changed. With a year or two of quarantining, teen dating sites have fundamentally changed how kids communicate.

While most communication technology is merely a tool to help people connect, it’s important to know that most dating apps leave safety up to the users—and that’s where the problems begin. 

Dating apps for teens can put your child at risk of exposure to explicit content, sexual predators, and other dangerous scenarios. 

So, which apps should you, as a parent know about, and what should you know about them? Let’s dive in.

Yubo | The “Tinder for teens”

What is Yubo?

Yubo is a social media app made for teens and young adults to find people, and much like Tinder, users make connections by using a swipe feature to match, and initiate live streams with other users. 

Who is Yubo for?

There are two versions of the app: one app for teens 13-17, another for 18 and older. Roughly 99% of users fall within the 13-25 age range.

What are Yubo’s main features?

• Social networking
• Dating app format (swipe to match)
• Public livestreaming
• Private direct messaging

Why is Yubo dangerous?

Yubo does have age verification, including entering age and submitting a photo, but these barriers can be bypassed—meaning anyone can create a profile pretending they’re someone they’re not. This creates an opening for predatory behavior. Teens could be exposed to predators looking to groom them into dangerous relationships, or catfishing, which is when someone lures another into a relationship using a fake profile.

Additionally, while Yubo has language filters to help stop bullying, these measures aren’t applicable to livestreams, meaning your teen could be exposed to explicit content live, whether they choose it or not.

Skout | Shake to chat

What is Skout?

Skout is a location-based teen chat and social media app. Using GPS, Skout lets users chat with nearby strangers by shaking their phone. If someone else is shaking their phone at the same time, they’ll be able to chat with each other, including sharing photos and videos. 

Who is Skout for?

According to Skout’s terms and conditions, the app is for only adults (18+), but there is no age verification in place, making it easy for anyone to pretend they’re someone else. 

What are Skout’s main features?

• Shake to chat feature
• Public livestreaming
• Groups users by geography
• Private direct messages

Why is Skout dangerous?

Skout has made efforts to curb underage usage after multiple underage rapes were traced to adult predators using the app while pretending to be teens. While this has helped, Skout still remains a top dating app for teens, and has many ways teens can get into problematic situations. 

Social media that is geo-located can create a more immediate danger users interacting with others online. If a predator is attempting to groom or otherwise exploit another user, it is more problematic if the predator is near their potential victim. 

MeetMe | The hookup app

MeetMe, formerly called MyYearbook is billed as an app to meet new people. This may sound harmless enough, but there are plenty of examples of why teens should not be using this app. It is essentially a social media platform skewed toward dating and flirting, including features for “Flirting” and “Romance”, which contains sexualized images of mostly females. MeetMe has also been tied to sexual predators, child exploitation, and even murders.

One way to look at it is to consider that this app is reviewed in the same articles as Adult Friend Finder, a platform made for adults who want to connect specifically for hook-ups. It’s also been labeled as one of the top dating apps used by teens.

Who is MeetMe for?

Meet me is only for adults, according to their terms and conditions, but age verification only makes your profile verified, meaning kids and teens could still create an unverified account to gain access to the app. 

What are MeetMe’s main features?

• Public livestreaming
• Groups users by geography
• Private direct messages
• “Flirting” and “Romance” dating functionality

Why is MeetMe dangerous?

While the company says they have checks in place to ensure convicted sex offenders aren’t allowed on the app, it appears identification verification is not a strength for the app. As recently as 2019, a convicted sexual predator became the most popular VIP  streamer on the app, and evaded detection because he used a fake last name.

There have been multiple murders connected to the app, and in many cases, the perpetrators had criminal records. This combined with the fact that the app couldn’t catch the sexual predator who became a top earning VIP streamer, shows just how unsafe the app is for teens and adults alike.

Keeping your teens and kids safe

The common theme with all of these apps is the general unsafe playground it offers to the teens and adults. And even while they have age restrictions, the apps don’t appear to have strong enough safeguards to be considered safe for teens or even many adults.

It’s important to have open conversations with your kids about the true dangers of these apps. If your teen is already using one or more of these apps, try to to discuss the type of interactions they’re having, and help guide them in an open and loving way.

If you’d prefer your kids didn’t have access to these type of social media and dating apps, Gabb offers tech devices that don’t allow access to internet or social media, and there is no app store to download these dating apps. To learn more about Gabb devices, you can check them out here.