Digital technology, especially handy digital devices have transformed the world. With changing societies, we are adopting a faster pace in life. Fast technology has reached a point where we even want fast relationships, fast love. Now, love is found more online than in the air. Millions of people worldwide are using dating apps or dating websites to search for their desired date, swiping picture after picture.
How convenient this speed dating is! No longer waiting for that particular dream boy/girl to magically appear in front of you. Now, you can just swipe right to find your Mr./Mrs. right. Online dating has increased the probability of finding a potential lover in this 24*7 busy world. All you have to do is to choose a particular site or mobile application, log in by filling in the details, and now you have entered the land where not one, not two but many probable potential partners are waiting for you to choose.
Initially intended to bring the LGBTQ+ community closer and to help them find their partner, the system of online dating evolved into something that is now cultured by the majority of the masses and is the new trend. Since the world has come together and can fit into your smartphones, community barriers have ceased to exist. Unfortunately, we can’t put an end to this beautiful story of connectivity and e-love just like that. There’s more to it.
Neither the world is full of honest and trustworthy people, therefore nor are dating websites or online dating applications. The dangers of online dating are pretty intense and perilous if not taken care of.
6 dangerous aspects of online dating:
- Catfishing
The profile picture is your sole identity on any dating site or dating app. It is through this profile picture; you decide to swipe right or left. And here we welcome catfishes who use a different picture to fool others. These people create a false identity of themselves rather than present a different person online. 57% of online daters tend to lie to each other. They fake a range of attributes such as their names, marital status, location, and appearance. And when you both meet, you see an entirely different being in front of you. Nothing will match with his/her tinder or bumble profile. And sometimes might turn out to be a different gender. Catfishing causes the victim to suffer emotionally.
- Hasty intimacy results in long-lasting troubles
Many people opt for e-dating to look for a sexual relationship. And there’s of course no harm in it if you are careful enough not to indulge in sexting almost immediately. There are several cases where the nudes or semi-nudes are used for blackmailing or sometimes even normal pictures are morphed or photographed and are intentionally used to demean the victim.
- Romance Scammers
There are various categories of people using online dating websites or dating apps. Some look got real romance, some for sexual pleasure or one-night standard some for their preys. Record says, 48% of the population do it for fun. And these scammers fool you as they pretend to be romantically involved with you and will build a trustworthy bond with you on the online medium, only to rob you or to brutally humiliate you. In most cases, these romance scammers manipulate you enough to believe in them and to work in accordance with their wishes. And this results in hacking, cleaning of your bank account, and other such dangers.
- Potential mismatch
The benefit of online dating is a speed dating can often be considered as amongst the major dangers of online dating. This superficial and fast and easy way of finding love is disintegrating the true value of bonds and relationships, resulting in weaker bonds, toxicity in relationships, acute bitterness in life, and frustration. Since you simply look at the profile picture and the minimal details while selecting your date, you often end up selecting the potentially wrong date for yourself.
- Child engagement
Dating apps have become an exciting endeavour for young teens as they are already influenced by the idea of love as presented to them in popular movies, books, or series — love can happen anytime and anywhere within a moment. Such a shallow definition of romantic relationships misses out on the most important thing- the slow growth of bonds. And as a result of their haste, they often unknowingly fall into the traps set up by their adult e-dating partner. This often leads to sexual harassment, drug abuse, kidnapping, or even rape. The offender in most cases are found to be male. The pretentious offender with his sweet talk and a fake vibe fools the underage or the young teen into believing and trusting in him which results in brutal cases like rape, kidnapping, or even murder.
- Online dating or online marketing
Dating has now become marketing. Just like on Amazon Or eBay, where while buying Bluetooth speakers (say), you would surf item after item, save them in your wish list, compare them, select the desired one, and then finally buy it. Similarly, dating apps work. What we are doing can also be termed as marketing for a desirable ‘date’. Keeping the desired preferences in our mind, we look for the ‘ideal partner’ matching our preference list. The displayed products are in their best form luring us to choose them. The principles of marketing are used while looking for a date.
Since there are sharks in the ocean, should you stop going to beaches? No. Though there are dangers of online dating, yet there are ways to find a date online without worrying.
Tips to save your day as an online-dater
- Do a quick background verification, even if it might cost you a few bucks. No good will come by saving a few bucks and dating an offender.
- Does a reverse image check of the profile photo to stay away from catfishes?
- Do not in any way share your details like phone numbers or address or even bank details to the person whom you haven’t met yet or has just met once or twice. Don’t trust people easily.
- On the first date choose a public place like a coffee shop or a park. Avoid going to his house and prevent him from being your chauffeur. Don’t let him direct the route.
- Always keep at least one person updated with your status. That is where are you going for your date or if there are stops you are making, etc.
- If your match keeps on talking about money or somehow wants you to share your bank details or card details, stay away.
- If you are finding your match to be offensive or unhealthily dominating or in any way that’s bothering you, don’t be shy to block and report him.
As the technology of dating shifted to online dating and speed dating, the entire process of dating changed and the philosophies of love got revised. Was it for good? Well, to define something based on its goodness or wickedness depends on the way it’s being operated. If used properly and carefully you can even find true love through online dating. Hence, fret not. If you are wise and careful enough, you won’t fall into petty traps and can enjoy the amusement of online dating.
