Online dating seems to be a good way for finding your soulmate, right? Well the answer is no! When using online dating sites, you put yourself in a big risk as it can be very dangerous. You will never know exactly who is on the other side of the screen. Many people find themselves getting catfished as so many people are using false identities. This makes their profile fake. People who use fake profiles can steal information from you if you believe them which could be extremely dangerous. Furthermore, when people use these sites they tend to choose the good-looking rather than the loving and caring. As a result of this many people suffer from low self-esteem as they don’t feel they are good enough.
When looking at low self-esteem there are so many young people who suffer from it as they make themselves feel less pretty or important. No one should feel like they must look prettier to get a date. Since there are so many people to choose from on the sites, it allows people to judge by appearance instead of personality. Many people fear rejection when using online sites which makes their self-esteem drop as they feel it will happen, so they don’t even try. In 2017 the peer-review journal published a study about college kids who use Tinder (which was the most popular online dating site at the time). The study found that the kids who use tinder have a much lower self-esteem than those who do not use it. The study author Jessica Strübel wrote that, “As a result of how the app works and what it requires of its users, people who are on tinder after a while may begin to feel depersonalized and disposable in their social interactions, develop heightened awareness (and criticism) of their looks and bodies and believe that there is something better around the corner or rather with the next swipe of their screen. Even while questioning their own worth.” This explains that online dating takes a toll on peoples’ self-esteem and makes them feel like they are not good enough. It also shows that people who do not go on these sites are happy with themselves and their appearance. However, people say that online dating is a good thing as it provides accurate personality tests to match you with someone like you so you never feel like you are not good enough.
A lot of people argue that online dating is a good thing as the sites provide several personality tests to find someone who has similar interests and hobbies to you so you can match with the right person. Despite the fact that they try to do personality tests, it is a hard process to do and the results may not always be accurate. In addition to this people change and people lie. People also argue that online dating in the internet world gives individuals much more choice and so many more potential partners than what the real world would as people are shy when it comes to reality. Even though you get more choices, these online sites provide too many choices which leads to people judging others by their appearance instead of their personality. Overall you will never fully find the perfect match as you cannot get to know someone properly through the screen of a computer.
Communication through dating sites will never compare to face-to-face communication. When you have a conversation with someone online it is normally always over text message and this is no way to get to know someone as you receive short and simple replies whereas if you were having conversation face to face you would receive bigger and more explained answers. Speaking online also does not give you a perception of their personality as you cannot see the way they act. Chatting online is emotionless as you never get the feeling of being face-to-face. Psychologists advise that “computer-mediated communication may have an artificial and unemotional quality since it can be harder to evaluate a potential match online where you cannot pick up on cues and features that build attraction, like touching.” This shows that you need physical interactions to know someone fully. Another difference is that when you come face-to-face with someone you are able to spot the connection and chemistry immediately. Where you will never be able to spot that through the screen of your computer. The biggest benefit of face-to-face communication is that you never have to worry about fake accounts.
So many people are unaware of fake accounts and the number of people making these accounts is absurd. Statistics show that 54% of people say that they have spoken to someone online who gives out false information. It is also said that at least 1 in 10 dating profile accounts contain fake information. People with fake accounts are known as catfishers. People catfish for many reasons and these include stealing information and money from others. Anna Rowe was affected by this when she was talking to a man named Antony Ray. It took Anna 14 months to realize that her relationship was fake and that the man she was talking to was not called Antony. This man was not at all single, he was a married man and a father. It turned out that Anna was not the only woman that ‘Antony’ was speaking to. Anna stated that “He used me like a hotel with benefits under the disguise of a romantic, loving relationship that he knew I craved.” This proves that he only wanted one thing. There are many things that you can watch out for to tell if you are being catfished. The main ones are if you never video chat or if they decline the call, if your conversation gets romantic very quickly and if you never meet them in person. Catfishing became such a big issue that in 2010 there was a movie dedicated to it. Also in 2012, there was a series released where in each episode of the seven series the two host would help people find out if their internet sweetheart was telling the truth about their identity before they met in person. Meeting in person is very dangerous if you do not know the person as so many things could go wrong.
When the time comes to meet in person you should be extremely cautious as it can be very dangerous. Meeting in a public place is very important as you never know what could happen. If you were to meet at someone’s house for the first time, it is tremendously risky as anything could happen to you. The way people act online can be completely different to the way they act in person. This is why you must be careful. If you were given a phone number to phone before the meeting took place, again make sure it is a public phone so that your mobile can not be tracked and information cannot be stolen. As briefly mentioned before, many people get catfished, so if you have any doubts at all about who you are meeting, do not do it. If you met someone when you had doubts about their identity you put yourself in danger as they could be capable of anything. People are not always who they say they are and that they are capable of anything, so be careful. If you ever feel uncomfortable, cancel the meet up and leave it there. Always make sure that you know what you are doing as chatting online does not give enough information about someone to then meet them.
In conclusion, there are so many negative things about online dating and many reasons why it should be banned. Online dating affects so many people’s self-esteem and lowers their love for themselves. It affects their everyday lives as they feel they must make themselves look better. The fact that online dating does not give you the opportunity of face-to-face communication is poor as the only way that you can truly get to know someone is by physical contact. A computer screen is a very threatening device as you never know what danger lurks behind it. So many people are being catfished as they cannot see the monsters that live in the internet and use false identification. As well as this when you meet people purely of the basis of what they have told you online is dangerous as they can be capable of anything. Now do you agree that online dating should be banned?
