With the constant playing of the Match.com and eHarmony commercials, I began to think about how unsafe online dating truly is. This is not something that normally comes to mind when you think about internet safety but I think it completely fits under this category. Although you may eventually meet the person you are matched with in person, most of the dating occurs online. This reality is quite scary.
How does anyone know that the person they are talking to is actually who they say they are or even what they actually look like? The commercials use sweet love stories of how two people meet online in order to appeal to pathos and get the viewers interested in their effective way to find a soul mate. Many people who are looking for love are persuaded and sign up for these online dating websites. A lot of information about themselves such as where they are from, likes, dislikes, kids, and pictures is then easily accessible for anyone on these websites. This becomes a problem because many people are too open online and give predators free reign with their information.
I feel like these online dating websites are a lot like social networks and people need to be cautious when putting information about themselves online. I think online dating does not really give the people involved a fair chance to get to know one another. I also think it creates more problems than good because of risks associated with giving out information to complete strangers via the internet. Are there ways to make online dating safer? What are your thoughts on online dating?
I used to think that all online dating was bad, but now I have a different opinion. I do think that people do need to be cautious when talking to someone online; however, many of the sites have increased their security settings. I have heard of numerous successful stories about people meeting others online.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if these online dating sites have more security protocols in place than social networking sites like Facebook? It seems like online dating sites have always been under pressure to maintain security while social networking sites have only recently come under fire.
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