By Bryce Spadafora, @bryce_spadafora
Dating apps have become extremely popular with college students over the past year. Apps like Kik, Tinder, and Grindr have made it easier than ever to have a shameless casual fling with a complete stranger. Those apps are iconic, but only one app has managed to set the bar for future social networking apps and completely lower it at the same time.
That app is Cuddlr. Developed by Charlie Williams, Cuddlr is advertised as a program that provides users with “a welcome break from hookup culture”. Cuddlr achieves this break by not matching strangers together and suggesting they hook up, but by suggesting they just cuddle each other instead.
Opening the app for the first time educates the user on Cuddlr’s rules. Cuddles are to be kept PG at all times. If a cuddle does start to get risqué then the user can open the app and rate their cuddle buddy. Ratings range from “awesome”, which is probably a nice long hug with few sexual undertones, to “inappropriate”. The more positive ratings you get, the more points you earn. It’s kind of like a game and the way to win is to cradle a stranger between your arms.
At this point in time it’s hard to say just what effect Cuddlr will have on the hookup and dating culture. Will cuddle buddies replace friends with benefits? Will a night of snuggling become the new one night stand? These are questions that only Cuddlr will be able to answer.
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