Dating with online profiles
Today, couples meet through online profiles. Many relationships start with people talking online and then taking the next step to meeting in person. While this is an excellent way to meet someone and ensure you are comfortable before meeting, it is so different from how things used to be.
The internet is a scary place, and many people have been catfished. Catfishing refers to the creation of a fictitious online persona or fake identity, with the intent of deception, usually to mislead a victim into an online romantic relationship or to commit financial fraud. This causes many people to be very cautious when chatting with strangers online. Many dating apps have people verify their profiles to make sure they match the identity they put on the platform. This is a huge safety benefit of apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble.
Apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter do not have these features, so when people meet through those platforms, you must be very careful. Not only do social media and dating apps change the way we meet people, but they also change the course of how dating works. If it used to be, people would start dating to get to know each other, but now people go into “situations” before “dating. This is when you go on dates and talk all the time to see if you enjoy that person. Which is very different and how the media is changing dating around the world.
It is amazing how people on social media and common interests can ruin someone you would have never met without these dating apps. I know many people who are happily dating through meetings through apps based on common interests put together by these platforms. It is amazing the control the internet has on us and how crazy the internet changes the world, even love.
There are so many beautiful love stories through the media, but one to any horror story. Catfish can be very dangerous, and many men and women end up dead or ruining someone’s life. People can use so many apps to come across as a different person or steal images from another and pretend to be them, basically committing identity theft, but many never get caught. Being online, you always have to be careful because you never know someone’s true intent, which almost makes sense as to why people no longer start dating to get to know each other and why people have a step between meeting and dating.
I have noticed, though, that many people are embarrassed to say they have met their significant other through online profiles to friends and family. There is almost a stigma from older generations of meeting someone online because they are not used to it. I see many people lie and say they met through mutual friends and lie about the story of how they met to not have to deal with explaining why they were on dating profiles. Many people, even on dating apps, are embarrassed as if it is a bad thing to admit you are on these apps to look for love. Will this ever change?
