A USI student explored online dating and 'hook-up' apps for a project. It went viral.

A University of Southern Indiana senior sparked a social media conversation with an independent study project.

As part of completing her degrees in photography and graphic design, 22-year-old Amanda Meuth decided to title her project, "Don't Be Shy, Come Say Hi" − an examination of what women experience in the world of online dating.

"I just wanted to hit on what it feels like to be a woman and some of the morality issues I see in America," she said.

Meuth began her project by creating profiles on dating sites and hook-up apps to see what kind of different people were putting themselves out there. After getting hits from a lot of people in their 50s and 60s, she decided to change the route of her project.

"I made sure that there was quite an age gap between them and myself and made sure that they had made comments to me completely unprovoked that were very sexual and vulgar," Marsh said. In her project summary, she states there were at least 15 years of age difference between her and the people who responded.

At that point, she had already been getting a lot of hits and was curious if she changed her age, what response would be.

Meuth said when she changed her age from 22 to 17, the increase in responses was dramatic.

She was able to collect about 300 photos of responders in Evansville before changing her location. She said she got the most responses from Texas.

"It's not any type of calling them out legally but more of like the morality ... and how the dating scene can be very scary for a lot of people," Meuth said. She decided to screenshot all of the profiles with men who were okay with the age difference, whether she purported to be 22 or 17. At that moment, following that same decision, she decided to put their faces on the walls as if they were permanently staring.

Many of the men she interacted with asked if she was okay with such an age difference or if she could handle an "older, dominant man." She also said she would get described as "delicious," "adorable," "cute" and other terms.

All of it made Meuth uncomfortable, she said. It was a draining experience.

"It's a big project for me because what I always try and do on my art is just make a statement that will get people thinking and maybe seeing the world a little bit differently," she said.

Setting up 'the room'

Meuth decided to set up a bedroom scene in the student gallery of the Arts Center on USI's campus. She said it incorporates much of herself in the physical setting.

Over a weekend, she brought in items from her childhood home to decorate the room. She wanted to put in different clues that would hint that the person was young.

In the room, you can find the floor and corner chair littered with girls' laundry and shoes. There's also a childhood vanity that has jewelry, makeup, food, and a picture of Meuth as an adolescent. She decided to incorporate other parts of her childhood, such as a few drawings, "Garfield" books, and her backpack with homework hanging out.

In another corner, there's a high school yearbook and trophies that surround a doll that appears to be sleeping in the corner.

"I made the doll the way that I did because I wanted it to look like it was sleeping," she said. "So that you feel like you're intruding on someone's personal space and just in someone's space without their permission."

Having collected more than 1,600 faces, Meuth knew putting them up in the room would add to an uncomfortable feeling she was trying to convey. Other than the glass window, each wall in the room is covered from top to bottom in photos.

She was able to use about 1,000 of the photos for the display.

"I put all their faces on the wall because I wanted anyone in there to feel stared at, see how many overwhelming numbers of people there are who could possibly mean you harm or ogle you and treat you like an object," Meuth said.

That's not the only way people will be uncomfortable when stepping into the room. Most don't notice, but she set up a camera in the room that streams to a television down the hall. There, visitors can watch others as they take in the room and what it has to offer.

This idea was something she came up with to emphasize how much people don't know that they're watched or how people will hack into people's computer cameras and record a person without their knowledge.

Naming the project

The title of the project was not one she came up with but one that one of the men gave her.

A 67-year-old man had tried connecting with her a few times and she wasn't responding to him. He decided to message, "Don't be shy, come say hi." Upon not getting a response to that message, he sent another message that said, "I promise I won't bite ... yet."

Meuth chose it as the title. It brought her project to life, and also caused a stir in the community.

As of late last week, a social media post about the exhibit had been shared 3,500 times.

The toughest part for Meuth has been knowing that she recognizes a few of the faces on her wall from her own life. She said she blurred out some of the images in the online post, but others have seen familiar faces, as well.

"Like I said, I'm not calling them out legally or anything but hoping that maybe they think in the future," she said. "Even if they did mean something innocently, (this is) how it can be received by someone so much younger."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Amanda Meuth of USI completed project using dating and hook-up apps