Hook Apps?? Awkward.

Apple, Inc. has become the second largest grossing company in the world just behind Exxon Oil. With a large array of cutting edge products, Apple has become a leader in technological advancement. Comercials for the iPhone boast apps that can do virtually everything from turning off your garage lights if you forgot to recording your favorite TV show from your phone. Now there is a new app for the iPhone that is a new take to online dating.

The app is called "Skout" and it incorporates GPS and dating. Created by Christian Wiklund (who is ironically married with two kids) created the app to allow singles to "flirt on the go". Wiklund claims that traditional online dating is too much pressure,  "meeting a match you found online is like a definite yes". With Skout, the GPS feature allows someone to see singles in their area, giving their location in feet. Singles can instantly find other singles in their area, begin to chat them, and meet up if they would like. Such a case was that of Scott Kutcher and Amanda Segal. During a Jay-Z concert at Madison Square Garden, Kutcher got on Skout to search hot singles in the area. He came upon Segal's profile, thought she was cute, and started chatting her. They decided to meet up for coffee after the show. Segal brought some of her friends for safety precautions. Upon meeting him Segal said, "He could have been a serial killer, I lucked out!".

WOW! That is so romantic...not. This very line shows how ridiculous and dangerous the Skout App is. The whole concept of this app is to find singles in your vicinity. Why not get your face out of your phone, look up and actually TALK to someone? That is a novel idea! This app shows how dependent people are becoming on technology. People are now intimidated by face to face interaction, so instead they flirt and talk over chat, texting, and e-mail. Because the speaker cannot see the other person's reaction they find courage behind the veil of technology, they become more confident and flirtatious. Though when they meet the person and try to talk to them in real life it suddenly their charming confidence is replaced by awkward tension. I feel like this Skout App is the perfect example of this.

Also as Segal so eloquently said before, "He could have been a serial killer, I lucked out!". This app's GPS feature is dangerous and creepy. It allows people you don't even know that obviously wants something more than just a conversation. These people make their goal quite obvious...it is even in the name "Hook Apps" a spin off of "Hook Up".  The feature tells you how far away in feet a potential partner is from your location. Though Wiklund claims user can use this feature to "hook up" to go get coffee. But other users have a different idea for "hook up". As this goal is common on the hook apps, people have certain expectations. Because of this, sexual predators or rapists could find easy subjects and locate them with the GPS feature. Though Wiklund provides safety tips such as taking a friend and meeting in public places, the implied goal disregards these recommendations. The Skout App and the other Hook Apps are awkward and dangerous and therefore should be used with extreme caution if they are to be used at all.