In this day and age, many people have turned to online dating to meet potential partners whether for it is something serious and long term, casual or a fling.  Although, like  anything in life, there are pros and cons. I stumbled upon an article by Psychology today titled “Pros and Cons of Online Dating.” In this article, author Nicholson (2014) broke down online dating into three categories, 1) “Access,” 2) “Matching,” and “3) Communication” and within these categories the author highlights the pros and cons of each of the three categories. He talks about how the pros for the “access” category is that there are a limitless amount of people. This gives online dating users a lot of choice.  well For example, you can change your preferences and narrow your choices based on what you are looking for in terms of age,  as well as the ethnicity you’re looking for, as well as religious and lifestyle preferences. Nicholson explains that the cons are that with the limitless amount of choice in potential suitors people begin to get really picky as they start to focus on their ideal partner, seeking out the perfect package; which often results in disappointment.

The second category; “matching” also has pros and cons according to this author. He states that the pro to matching up with someone online is that it goes based on algorithms and questionnaires to help online daters match up with like minded and well suited partners. The con of this category though is the fact that it may not be accurate especially if people are not answering the questionnaires honestly and truthfully.  As for the third and last category; “communication,” Nicholson (2014) states that because the conversions are taking place via technology there is no risk of safety when potentially first getting to know someone, prior to meeting. Also, online dating allows for flexibility in response times for people who are too busy to respond right away to a text or message. The con associated with this category is that communicating via texts makes it challenging for the receiver of the text to determine the tone of the messenger and therefore the message gets lost. As well, Nicholson (2014) mentions that because there is no face-to-face interaction when you first start to get to know someone, it makes it difficult in some cases to build an emotional connection.

Of course, this particular blog is based on one person’s findings and may be different for everyone. What works for one person of course may not work for another, but there is no denying that people are meeting more and more online, whether the interaction is successful or unsuccessful!

Suggested reading material:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-attraction-doctor/201404/pros-and-cons-online-dating

Many people decide to try online dating for the mere fact that there is a limitless amount of choice in terms of potential matches. This is based on algorithms and different categories that one would  be looking for. If we look at the dating website Eharmony who gathered statistics from Statistics Canada reports that in 2014, there were 14.2 million single Canadians using online dating. In this day and age, online dating seems like the way for me people. According to Eharmony, there are 36% of Canadians who use online dating, 52.4% being men while 47.6% being women. If we look an article by Global news, they report that according to a 2011 Leger Marketing survey, 36% of Canadians between the ages of 19 to 34 used online dating. So this begs the question, does online dating really work to meet potential single people?

According to an article from 2013 called “Meeting online leads to happier, more enduring marriages,” and based on research from the University of Chicago, they report that over a third of marriages between 2005 and 2012 began online and have resulted in longer and more successful marriages. This article suggests that the reason for this is because of the availability and limitless amount of people to choose from online, as well as the screening process which are based on questionnaires (if answered honestly). Everyone is of course different, and whether or not someone decides to use online dating forums is based on preference.

As seen above, it is clear that more and more, people of all ages, but especially young people are leaning more towards online dating because it is convenience and offers a great choice of suitors, this makes it attractive since you literally have people at your fingertips.

For further reading please refer to:

Eharmony: http://www.eharmony.ca/online-dating-statistics/

By the numbers: The rise of Canada’s online dating scene

https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/06/03/meeting-online-leads-happier-more-enduring-marriages

Online dating like many things in life requires us to put ourselves out there-in the cyber world. We never know who we will catch the interest of! Let’s say you make a profile on a website such as OkCupid, or Plenty of Fish or on a dating application such as Tinder. Do you really know who you are talking to? Since online dating has been prevalent as well as relevant for the past fifteen years or so, it is important to be aware of the red flags when it comes to online dating. If we look at the article, “‘Catfishing:’ The phenomenon of Internet scammers who fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into romantic relationships” by author Peterson (2013) in the Daily Mail online, she talks about this term we have come to refer to as “cat-fishing,” where people deceive others online by pretending to be something they are not. Throughout the article, the author talks about this idea that people who pretend to be someone they are not by faking social media accounts with information that is untrue and pictures of people that do not belong to them, do all this because they get this satisfaction of the control.  They allow and also want the victim to fall in love with them by pretending to be someone entirely different than who they really are. Peterson (2013), explains the the biggest red flags to look out for is if you are getting to know someone online who refuses to go on webcam or meet up with you in person. These are often the biggest indicators that you are being cat-fished!

As well, according to Peterson (2013) in this following quote “it is a joy that typically springs from their inability to achieve the depth of human connection in reality that they can achieve online, according to their personal accounts” Although, the exact reasons as to why a cat-fisher decides to cat-fish, really varies on the person doing the cat-fishing!

Further reading:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264053/Catfishing-The-phenomenon-Internet-scammers-fabricate-online-identities-entire-social-circles-trick-people-romantic-relationships.html