Video transcript: SU students react to the rise of the Tea app
Joey Cicini: The weather might be getting colder, but the Tea is still hot at SU. No I’m not talking about the kettle, I’m talking about the Tea app, an anonymous dating where women can review men they’ve had past experiences with. Rising to over 4.5 million users since July of 2025, Tea is primarily used for safety concerns. The Tea app has features such as phone number lookup and background checks which allow women like Liz Crandall to proceed with caution.
Liz Crandall: You can talk about a story that’s happened to you and ask for advice. It gives women a women only space to go on and ask other women’s opinion about something they are going through.
Cicini: The app has its flaws. In the hands of college students, it isn’t always taken serious. Junior Taylor Whitmore has seen the platform take a turn.
Taylor Whitmore: I think that it’s a good idea just in practice I don’t think people are mature enough to do it well. When I went on there, there was a lot of trolling and stuff like that.
Cicini: The men being judged are the ones at harm. Most don’t have a clue. While junior Jack Henry hasn’t been posted, he is aware of the dangers that can arise.
Jack Henry: You have no say. Your image is just being put on there and you could just be slandered with no way to back yourself up. What if the roles were then reversed? What if men created an app where they could do the same thing for women and how that conversation would be different. It would blow up. People would be outraged about it.
Crandall: I don’t think it’s going to ever do for safety what it needs to because I do think people are always going to utilize that kind of tool to post what they want about somebody and not necessarily the truth.
Henry: Your one bad expereinece with this person doesn’t mean that everyone is going to have a bad experience with this person.
Cicini: Henry tells users to be wary of their actions.
Henry: For a second, before you post, take a step back and think about how your reaction would be if someone posted that about you.
Cicini: In Syracuse, Joey Cicini, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – A dating safety app is stirring debate across college campuses, including Syracuse University. The Tea app is an anonymous review forum that allows women to look up and post about men they have dated or interacted with.
Tea has over 4.5 million users as of July 2025 according to the company. Thanks to social media trends, Tea’s popularity is still surging.
Marketed as a safety app, Tea allows access to conduct phone-number searches and background check tools. The app requires users to submit a selfie to verify they are a woman, meant to create a safe, women-centric space.
Some SU students say those features give women more confidence while navigating campus dating culture.
“You can talk about a story that’s happened to you and ask for advice,” SU Senior Liz Crandall said. “It gives women a women only space to go on and ask other women’s opinion about something they are going through.”
With the rapid growth of the platform, especially on college campuses, some say the nature of the app opens the door for misuse.
Junior Taylor Whitmore said she has watched the platform shift away from its intended purpose.
“I think that it’s a good idea just in practice I don’t think people are mature enough to do it well,” Whitmore said. “When I went on there, there was a lot of trolling and stuff like that.”
The male students being reviewed are the most vulnerable. Tea posts are made without their knowledge or consent. While SU Junior Jack Henry has not be reviewed on the app, this dynamic concerns him.
“You have no say. Your image is just being put on there,” Henry said. “You can just be slandered with no way to back yourself up.”
Henry also questioned how the public might respond if the roles were reversed.
“What if men created an app where they could do the same thing for women, and how that conversation would be different?” he said. “It would blow up. People would be outraged about it.”
Even Crandall, who sees the potential the platform can have for women doubts Tea will ever achieve its safety goals.
“I don’t think it’s going to ever do for safety what it needs to because I do think people are always going to utilize that kind of tool to post what they want about somebody and not necessarily the truth,” she said.
Henry urges his peers to think carefully before they submit a post.
“For a second, before you post, take a step back and think about how your reaction would be if someone posted that about you,” he said.