Social media has made it much easier for people from all over the world to connect. Dating apps have made social interactions even better. You can literally access a pool of people who are looking for a good night out on the town.
That sounds all good and great, but sometimes you can’t forget that you really don’t know the people that you’re coming into contact with. Over the years dating apps have always been a bit of a risky business. With what happened to Robert Chapman you may want to think twice about the conversations that you’re having on these apps.
Allegedly Robert Chapman of Carmel NY was one of the many users on the dating platform Bumble looking for love. His idea of small talk though would prove to be what led to his downfall. After getting matches with different women his conversations would ultimately lead to him confessing that he was one of the many people that stormed the Capitol building earlier this year.
It’s not clear whether or not describing himself as a hero of the capitol riots on dating apps did him any favors. It did lead to an anonymous user on the app reporting him to the FBI.
After he made a match with a woman Chapman started bragging to her that he had been one of the capitol rioters. He wrote to her, “I did storm the capitol,” and then later described that he had made it all the way to Statuary Hall.
The woman that he had made a match with took some screenshots of the conversation and filled a report against Chapman. Now, Chapman is sitting in police custody and awaiting trial to see what his next few years are going to look like.
A New York man, Robert Chapman, has been charged with entering the Capitol on Jan 6. The FBI began investigating Chapman after they got a tip from one of his Bumble matches. The FBI included the Bumble screenshot in the charging documents. pic.twitter.com/ctHHYk44a5
— Daniel Barnes (@dnlbrns) April 22, 2021
According to different news outlets Bumble was not the only app where Chapman was allegedly bragging about his exploits. Actually, he had posted pictures of the riot directly to his personal Facebook page on the day of the riot.
Does this mean that there is more “freedom of speech” on Facebook than what you’re getting from dating apps? Not quite, it seems that the dating app screenshot is essentially being taken as a direct confession from Chapman. In any case, this can certainly qualify as a new way to get busted by the feds.
Going on actual dates with people that you’ve met through dating apps can be quite a risky adventure. It can also be risky though to be bragging about committing felonies to people who you don’t really know and expect them to keep it a secret for you. That’s a poor judgment call in most books.
For now, apps like Bumble have not issued any type of statement on how this issue could change their company policies moving forward. It’s just up to each person to be mindful of what they share or not.
