This Instagram account is on a mission to expose creepy dudes on dating apps.
ByeFelipe was started in 2014 by writer Alexandra Tweten. She went through a string of awful experiences with guys on dating apps like Tinder. Some guys would send her unsolicited penis pics, or they’d throw obscenities at her when she ignored their messages. Tweten posted screenshots of her conversations on her account and she was flooded with messages from other women who said they’ve experienced the same things.
“I realized that it was really common,” Tweten, 31, told Vice. “It felt a lot better.”
ByeFelipe’s name is a rift on “Bye Felicia,” a popular insult used to dismiss an irrelevant person. Now, Tweten posts photos of other women’s bad dating app interactions to her 430,000 followers.
And in August, she published a book, “Bye Felipe: Disses, Dick Pics, and Other Delights of Modern Dating,” which covers stories about online harassment and what to do about it.
“It’s basically the book that I wish I would have had in my early 20s to tell me how to go about dating,” she said.
And Tweten believes her Instagram account is even more relevant in the age of #metoo. In 2017, a survey by the Pew Research Center found that 21 percent of young women under 29 have dealt with sexual harassment.
“This is a problem in our society in general, this thing of men becoming aggressive and hostile when they’re told ‘no,’” Tweten said.
In July, The Post reported on NYC-based matchmaker Meredith Golden, who compiled a list of the worst local men she’s come across on dating apps. Offenses include guys who’ve expressed racist tendencies, anger-management problems and fidelity issues.
“When someone shows who they are [and it freaks you out], you run for the exit,” Golden told The Post.