The Tea app hits Syracuse University

Gossip has long been a staple of adolescent culture, taking the form of whispered huddles and newspaper columns. Its latest format: The Tea app. 

The Tea app is a social forum where women can anonymously post the picture, first name and age of men they have had romantic encounters with, or wish to, and receive comments about their behavior. On the app, women can also access sex offender lists, criminal records and other public information to run their own background checks. 

The app is designed to be women-only, meaning only women can access these features, and verifies the gender of its users by having potential members take a selfie of themselves, which must then be approved by the app’s administrators, in order to gain access to the app’s database and sharing capabilities. 

Tea was started in 2023 by software developer Sean Cook, after his mother had negative experiences while online dating. 

Nicholas Bowman, a professor of media studies at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, believes that this app may not fill an obvious gap in the oversaturated market of online dating, but perhaps satisfies a psychological need. 

“In an era where we are generally skeptical of who we meet, amplified when we meet people in spaces where we can’t verify any of their information, an app like this helps cut through that clutter,” Bowman said. 

Since the app serves users with potential men to flag and comment on all based on geographic proximity, it makes sense that it has taken off on many college campuses, including Syracuse University. 

A male Syracuse University student, who asked to stay anonymous, is aware that he has been posted on the app and does not feel personally victimized by his presence there, but does find some aspects of the software unsettling. 

“I do think it’s weird that people can kind of talk about you without you knowing [and share] kind of personal stuff,” he said.

While acknowledging this, he also believes that if they act in a stand-up manner, men should not have too much to worry about regarding the app. 

“Like, don’t be an idiot, because you’ll get exposed,” he said. 

While some women find it helpful in their dating life, others, like Syracuse student Lucie McCarney, find the app entertaining. 

“I don’t really use it frequently and when I do it’s just my friends wanting me to see if they have a post up for them,” McCarney said.

Though much of the chatter on the app is what would be considered classic gossip, there are also serious allegations. Women, both in public comments and in private messages, will disclose experiences of sexual assault and harassment, with the intention of warning other women about the men who perpetrate these crimes.

Bowman is unsurprised that women have turned to this forum to confess such traumatic events. 

“I suspect that is why many women are comfortable posting anonymously on Tea, because it is one of the only ways they can actually report these crimes, because if they report it to the police, it doesn’t get solved tomorrow,” Bowman said.

Whether it is trivial rumors or serious allegations, none of the comments can be easily traced back to a person, since all accounts are anonymous, something McCarney has experienced firsthand. 

“It’s interesting to see what people will say about people that you know. It’s a weird situation because I’ll read something about someone I know [and I’ll think] ‘that doesn’t seem at all on point with their character at all,’” she said. 

The lack of verification is an issue that many people have with the app, especially the men who have been posted on it. Another concern is that the content being discussed is simply unverifiable. 

“I think its uniqueness is that you’re trying to verify information that, so far as I understand, is inherently subjective,” said Bowman.

The “inherently subjective” information being shared has created some enemies who oppose the app. 

In July 2025, the app was hacked by 4chan users, who describe themselves as “incels,” and the app data was shared on other online forums. Men were now not only able to see the profiles made of them and the comments posted there, but also the private messages between women, some of them containing sensitive information regarding crimes committed against them. Perhaps the most concerning information in the leak was the pictures. 

Formerly, the app had verified users’ gender by having them submit ID photos that were said to have been deleted. Photos of women were then dissected and degraded by people online. 

Tea has responded to the hack, claiming that they have shut down the affected system and have launched an investigation into their security measures. 

The resentment held by men against the app did not diminish after the hack. This past year, a copycat app called TeaOnHer was launched by the Newville Media Corporation. Meant to be a reciprocal forum where men can post and comment on women, the platform has seen much success. 

McCarney, who has seen the copycat app, says comments there are often quite vulgar.

“I think it’s like the guy one, but honestly worse, because what I’ve seen about it, it’s literally just calling girls, like hoes and, it’s just, like degrading, the way they look, all that stuff,” she said.

Both Tea and TeaOnHer were recently removed from the app store due to issues with moderation and security, but both remain available to download on Google Play. 

With all of the controversy surrounding these platforms, many wonder what the future of these apps looks like. Will they become obsolete, as so many social platforms have before, when they inevitably fall out of trend? Or is women’s feeling of unsafety, and men’s anger with being painted as predators, a constant demand to be supplied? 

Bowman thinks that though the popularity of the apps may fluctuate, their presence will never fully be extinguished. 

“It will never go away. Media doesn’t die. People tend to think media dies, [it] really [doesn’t].”