Plenty of Fish in the Virtual Sea KEITH KIAMA CIS 1055 SECTION 2

Background  In 1992, less than 1% of Americans met their significant others through the non-traditional ways, i.e. personal ads and matchmaking services  Later in 1995, the first online dating site was created – Match.comMatch.com  Since then, 11% of American adults are classified as ‘online daters’  This means that they have used a dating website or have used a dating cell phone app  And out of these online daters, 23% of them have found a spouse or a long time relationship partner through these dating sites

Demographics

Why Online Dating…?  Lack of time  People don’t have the time to go out of their way to look for something they don’t necessarily think they can get  With online dating, they can go through their daily routine knowing that in some virtual world someone is checking them via the profile they created

Why Online Dating…?  Everyone is online  For people who want to meet people from all walks of life but cannot seem to be able to, online dating is a great way to meet them  There are some dating sites that are even made for specific groups of people like ChristianMingle.com ChristianMingle.com  Since everyone is online, it makes it easier for everyone to link up in the online community of any dating site/app  As 66% of online daters have ended up going on a date with someone they met online

Why Online Dating…?  Built for everyone  Even for the socially awkward people who find it difficult to build relationships in their everyday lives  Online dating sites give them an opportunity to get acquainted and comfortable with their partners enough  It also makes the daters set parameters on how and where they should meet when they eventually decide to  Additionally, you have the freedom, again without it being awkward, to end a conversation with someone online with much ease and smoothness that is not easily affordable in traditional dating

Problems with Online Dating  For all its success, online dating still has a negative stigma attached to it  Most online daters lie about where they first met when asked by others  Reason for that is, 1 in every 5 internet users are in agreement that online daters are desperate people  This idea is slowly changing with the growing amount of online daters DON’T BE THAT GUY!

Problems with Online Dating  Misrepresentation  There are some online daters who misguide their potential partners into thinking they are someone they are not  They do this by uploading a pic of someone that is not them or by changing something else in their profile like age, height, weight, or salary earnings  There could be many reasons for this ranging from lack of self confidence to theft  The act of online false identity is called catfishing and it a new term that has caught on with a tv show on MTV

Problems with Online Dating  Too many choices  With the numerous number of dating websites out there and their different ways of finding out if people match, it has become increasingly difficult to find the ‘perfect match’  This has made the online daters have a shopping like mentality when going through different profiles of potential matches  Moreover, it makes the daters have high expectations on their matches  This puts pressure on every party when the meet finally occurs

Online Dating Experience I have tried the online dating thing and have found it to be quite successful. That’s Me!

Conclusion  Online dating has made it easier for people to come together from all walks of life  It has changed people to even get out of their comfort zones and seize the moment  As much as there are deterrents, like catfishing, the number of online dating sites and its users has increased and will continue to increase over time

References  Gardner, Amanda. "Psychologists highlight pitfalls of online dating." CNN. Cable News Network, 6 Feb Web. 5 May  "History of Internet Dating Services."History of Internet Dating Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May  "Online Dating 01 Date." Dating Sites 01Date RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May  "Online Dating & Relationships." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. N.p.,n.d. Web. 2 May  Siner, Emily. "Online Dating Is On The Rise (But There Are Still Haters)." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 4 May