By Haiting TanSpecial to the Chronicle

Back in November, The Chronicle reported that Hofstra was temporarily blacklisted from Tinder due to an influx of users from a single IP address. While the ban did initially cause an uproar among students, I do not believe that it is still an issue, as students can use apps such as Kik or Yik Yak to pursue new relationships.

However, it does amaze me that Tinder has not worked on resolving this problem. It would not surprise me if there were other universities that also use a single IP address, which means Tinder could stand to lose a lot of users if they do not fix this issue.

With over 10,000 students, Hofstra’s network combines all wireless traffic into one IP address, therefore it has been concluded that Tinder blocked the University as all users at the school have identical IP addresses. Students initially frustrated by their denied access blamed the University, but Hofstra has insisted that it only blocks access to sites deemed as hazardous or malicious – pointing the finger back at Tinder.

It is rather unusual for Tinder to block universities for this reason, and is usually the schools themselves that block such apps. For example, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Washington University have both banned Tinder.

Another dating app, The Grade, conducted a survey concluding that 65 percent of dating app users believe the apps are effective. One reason that dating apps are so popular among students is because they often have hectic schedules, with at least 12 credits and extracurricular activities or a part-time job, which makes it difficult to meet people.

Other times, it has nothing to do with wanting a relationship, as students simply use it to kill time. However, with so many alternative dating apps, such as Plenty of Fish, J Swipe and Coffee Meets Bagel, students should not be greatly affected by the loss of Tinder. In fact, I think Tinder should feel the burn.

It is rather surprising that Tinder blocked Hofstra considering Hofstra earned an A+ in an in-depth study conducted by The Grade, which ranked colleges in terms of message quality, the length of time for a response, the looks of users, users who curse the most, picky users and the number of users who prefer to use the app at night.

Considering that Hofstra’s users earned such high marks, it is baffling that Tinder has yet to work with the University to resolve the issue.

Ultimately, while it is nonsensical that Tinder has not unblocked Hofstra, students are not suffering much of a loss, as there are still dozens of other dating apps that they can use to embark on new relationships.