Online dating has become the new normal for many since it is such an easy way to communicate with one another. The power of technology has pretty much changed almost every aspect of our lives and how we perform certain tasks. It is so easy to hop on a phone or computer, fill out an online dating profile, and start matching with others who share the same interests as you. However, we all need to be careful when it comes to online dating because it is a scary world out there where people create fake profiles. We also need to be careful about the younger generation because there are age restrictions on every dating application.
“Catfishing” is a common downside when it comes to online dating platforms. According to Pew Research Center reported on February 6th, 2020, 71 percent of people lie about themselves in some way to come across as more presentable. This is a major downfall to online dating because you may not know who exactly you are talking to. It has happened so much that there is even a show on MTV shedding light on this issue. There is even a new term that is played off “catfishing” which is called “kittenfishing”. According to an article from NBC News reported on July 19th, 2019, the term “kittenfishing” is a lighter version of catfishing. You may not be portraying a completely as a different person, but you are still significantly misrepresenting yourself.
According to an article that was published by Pew Research Center and reported on February 6th, 2020, about 60 percent of women who are aged 18-34 have received some form of contact after saying they weren’t interested. This is clearly a problem considering the men’s statistics is about half that number, coming in at 27 percent. There is also a high percentage of criminals who are using these various dating platforms which can put lives in danger. According to an article written by Jack Olive on APAC Entrepreneur, “…young people must exercise extreme caution if they want to get involved with a new person especially over the internet”. The younger generation needs to be extremely careful when they are talking to complete strangers online. Since there is such a high volume of criminals using these applications, they may be fooled and catfished by them ultimately putting their life at risk.
College students and graduates are the main target when it comes to online dating. There are so many dating applications that are easy to use and download since it can be found right in our very hands. According to an article published by Pew Research Center on February 6th, 2020, about 84 percent of people who have attended college met up with someone they found on a dating application. College students are a key factor to this considering the people on the apps most likely attend the same college. It is way easier to go out with someone if you share something in common. According to an article written by Molly Longman on Yahoo! Life published on September 28th, 2020, some of the most popular dating apps include Bumble, Hinge, and Tinder. These applications are so easy to use, where you either just must swipe left or right. College students are these companies target audience and it most likely will not change.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/dating-apps-college-students-actually-151918775.html
In order to find more about online dating, I asked my roommate about her opinion on the downside of online dating. We talked about criminals and the idea of being catfished and completely hates that there isn’t something out there to weed out the bad people on these applications. She claimed, “It’s a completely messed up world out there where you cannot trust people to be themselves. There needs to be an algorithm or something to get rid of criminals and catfishes on all dating apps.” Since she is also in college, I decided to ask her about her views on the most popular dating sites that are used by college students. She claimed that it doesn’t shock her at all since a majority of her friends are on them, but she refuses to use them.
I also sat down with my former roommate and what she thinks about online dating applications. She agrees that catfishing and the number of criminals online is absolutely absurd, however, the people using these sites are putting themselves at risk. She states, “Everyone knows what they are signing up for when they set up their profiles. They just need to be careful and make sure they are talking to people who share similar interests.” Since she is also in college, we discussed all the dating services out there. She recommends talking to people you know that go to the same college or surrounding college since there is a common ground there.
Bloomsburg Infographics 