The Basics of Online Dating

Love has been around since the beginning of time and for as long as romantic relationships have been around; people have tried various ways of meeting one another. The mid-1990s marked the start of online dating and since then has evolved into a much more common method of dating. Online dating is typically taken advantage of in one of two ways. Some people prefer to create their own profile and rely on themselves to choose their mate choice, while others allow the online dating services to create matches between the online subscribers. In a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center they found that one in ten American’s are using an online dating site to help them locate a spouse or a long term partner (Smith 1). Due to the advances in technology in recent years, online dating has developed into a resource that has become culturally accepted and has advanced in many ways, but with that comes mate choice, safety concerns, and the outlook on online dating.
Choosing a mate through an online dating source has become easier to do throughout recent years because it allows people to create a personalized profile. The profile serves as the introduction to a person’s life, their interest, and what they are looking for in a partner. It is a personalized tool that provides access to others in the online network. Some profiles tend to exaggerate the truth because they rely on the individual completing the information in an honest fashion; however, some are less than honest and tend to put in facts that are untrue in order for them to gain more visibility. The profile cannot fully capture a person’s personality and demographics because the big picture is missed and can only be experienced in real life. Because profiles are hard to rely o...

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...Five percent of Americans who are in a marriage or a committed relationship say they met their significant other online” (2). The reality of how relationships are started is through the traditional methods of meeting people offline. People like to meet others through introductions and referrals because it provides a sense of security. Due to the direction that society is headed, we are seeing more and more technological advances. These new advances are giving people the freedom to meet and integrate with others in the society in a safe fashion. However, we know that technology is not one-hundred percent safe proof. Because technology is not completely safe and is not always accurate individuals must use common sense to determine when a situation is not being used properly. Online dating sites through the technological advances are getting lots of recognition.