For this post I want to discuss the a topic that can be filed under the good, the bad, or the ugly, depending on the situation: online dating. It is something that more and more people are doing these days. Whether it be through a dating site such as eHarmony (more common for adults), or through some random person you met on some social media site like Facebook, (more common in younger people) it is something that is becoming more of a norm in today's digital age.
The good: Legitimate and reputable online dating sites allow people who have not had luck in the traditional dating game a chance to meet different kinds of people in more comfortable environment. It is especially good for older people, such as someone who is divorced or widowed, and have not dated in awhile. Sometimes it's hard for these people to have the motivation to get back out there or find situations to meet new people, so dating sites help a lot in these cases. Sites like these make it easier to find someone with the same interests and values as you, which can help to weed out a lot of really bad first dates and save people time in finding a match for them. There are many success stories and marriages that have come out of these dating sites (the legitimate ones, not Facebook dating, as I will discuss later). In fact, a close friend of my dad found his new wife on Match.com after a very bad divorce, and he has never been happier. It is also great for people who live in especially rural areas where there are not a lot of people to chose from. I'm sure it does not work for everyone, but there are a lot of good aspects about online dating sites.
The bad: Some people have a lot of success with these legitimate sites and end up in healthy, happy relationships. These are the people who were honest about themselves. Unfortunately, internet dating provides a layer of uncertainty, because sometimes people are not honest about their profiles. A lot of times people will post false pictures of themselves, or pictures of a younger version of themselves, which is misleading. Also, people can put up any values, goals, interests, hobbies, etc. they want, even if they aren't true. This would kind of negate the purpose of finding a match, and the people who do lie are probably not on the site for the right reasons. Bottom line: you don't know who you're really talking to in some cases, and this is definitely a bad thing, and a safety issue. Sites always recommend meeting in public places if you do meet in person or bringing a friend along until you make sure he or she is who they say they are, for this very reason.
The ugly: There are many cases of fraud in legitimate online dating sites, and there are even more when people don't go through them for online dating. This is where a lot of young people run into problems. Everyone has seen the popular MTV show "Catfish the Tv Show", and maybe the movie "Catfish"that led to the television show. We all wonder how people could believe the person they are talking to is really who they say they are, when the signs are so blatantly screaming "FRAUD!", but people do every day. The ugly part of dating someone you met online, and the internet itself, is that you can be or say anything you want to be. A 49 year old male can put up a Facebook profile claiming to be a 24 year old female model, and no one can do anything about it when it comes to social media. The show "Catfish" investigates people's online romances and sees if they are in fact who they claim to be. Only once have I seen the person actually be the face on the Facebook picture. A lot of times these people have a genuine connection, or think they do, but a lot of times these people are just used by internet predators. In many episodes, the real person convinced by their "significant other" to send money, cell phones, etc. It is a seriously ugly part of online dating and the internet itself. The message here is that you have to be careful when it comes to online dating because you never truly know if you're talking to the person they say they are. The internet provides everyone with a layer on anonymity, and it is something a lot of people are tricked by.
Here are some links I found about the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of online dating
Huffinton Post: 'Online Photos: Are We All Catfishing' Is Third Report In Pace University's Sex And Dating Study
Forbes: Love on the run
Who uses internet dating?
