The Benefits of Online Dating: Advantages & Drawbacks
Truthfully, the benefits of online dating far outweigh its drawbacks. It’s only a matter of a proper game plan to effectively get matched with the right people!
Back in the day, this is how it went down. You would get dressed on a Saturday night, go to a bar, looking for someone to talk to. After a few hours and overpriced drinks, you go home and marvel at your terrible luck at meeting singles. But that’s hardly the way to go these days. Although the bar is just an option and not the only way to find a date in our fast-paced world.
Online dating is simply the use of online platforms, websites, or apps, to connect and interact with people who, just like you, are using the platform for the purpose of finding a partner. Online dating has seen an unprecedented rise in popularity in recent years. The change has been spurred on by millennials. 91% of millennials are on a social network. 1 in 3 millennials have admitted to being on a dating platform at one point or another.
Users’ primary demographic may be young, but online dating profiles encompass a broad spectrum of ages, professions, cultures, inclinations, etc.
But before you go trying to meet your match online, here are the benefits and drawbacks of online dating.
Benefits of Online Dating
Online dating has revolutionized the way people find love. Here are some of the best things about online dating.
1. Algorithms
Algorithms are the new matchmakers. Some online dating sites employ advanced and sophisticated algorithms to comb through their platform. This feature helps identifies your best possible match based on your mutual interests and other personal information. Algorithms are significant for calculating compatibility. They can also save you a lot of time spent getting to know the wrong person.
2. Online dating has made dating more accessible
One billion people, that is, 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability. That has made finding love and living an everyday life extremely difficult for some. The disabilities range from physical disability impeding movement to social disabilities, inhibiting regular interaction with other people.
Online dating has given disenfranchised people with disabilities a way to connect with regular people and find romantic partners who, when given the opportunity to know them, do not see their conditions as a hindrance to living a happy life together. While it is not possible to throw online dating apps pros and cons under the pillow, accessibility is massive on the positive side.
3. Online dating sites users have lots of options
Most people live a very cloistered life with set socio-economic boundaries and rules. Online dating helps break all the social barriers and exposes you to different people from all walks of life.
You will meet people from other countries, cultures, different races, religions, political inclinations, and so on. Even as you continue to consider online dating benefits and drawbacks, you will experience a much richer dating experience. That mostly leads to doubling or even tripling your immediate dating pool.
4. Online dating is great for shy people
Many shy or socially reclusive users wish they had online dating when they were younger. Online dating allows people who would usually never think of interacting with people, having a relationship, and accessing a broad and diverse dating pool comfortably and safely without social pressures and social anxiety.
5. Perfect for Shy People
None of the benefits and drawbacks of online dating sites works against a shy person. If you believe you belong to the “shy gang,” online dating is the most suitable escape route.
6. Online dating keeps you in control
Being on an online dating site is not like being at a bar and hoping someone comes to talk to you or praying that they leave you alone. With online dating, you have control over how you interact with people. You have total control with whom you interact and how people have access to you. Some dating sites don’t even allow other users to message you until you accept their request. That gives you some control over your online dating experience.
The best part is when you no longer want to continue a conversation or date another user, you can just block them and move on. On some occasions, online dating benefits and drawbacks can get in the mix. That is a con for one user may be a pro for another.
An example is when you are no longer interested in another user because you are probably talking to someone who tickles your fancy more. For you, the ability to block the other user is a pro. But if they desperately want to continue with you, it becomes a con since they won’t be able to reach you again. But for most parts, having control of your interactions is a huge part of dating successfully online.
7. Online dating helps you narrow your search
Online dating is the perfect place for you if you know what you are looking for and are ready to go for it. Thanks to preference focused and niche-based online dating platforms, you can save the trouble of wading through profile after profile, searching for someone with the right height or race, or ethnicity. Preference focused sites take the stress of finding your ideal type so you can concentrate on building an emotional connection.
Drawbacks of Online Dating
There is no such thing as a perfect invention, and online dating is no different. Even with all its advantages and features, and the considerable number of users who go on online dating sites worldwide, it still has its drawbacks. Here are some cons of online dating.
1. Online dating gives room for indecision
Although there is nothing inherently wrong with having preferences, being fixated on a particular idea of who you want your future partner to be and how you want them to look is a very close-minded way when trying to find love. There are some fantastic individuals out there, and many of them will exceed your expectations if given a chance. Having preferences can be an excellent way to screen out people who may not be your type, but you might miss out on something truly special in the process. As with the control abilities, having preferences lie in between the benefits and drawbacks of online dating.
2. Online dating can be superficial
When using online dating platforms, it is easy to forget that beauty is only skin deep. The flood of chiseled features, perfect skin, and airbrushed photos can skew your decision-making skills when trying to find the right partner.
You can miss out on great relationships and interactions with people who might not have the perfect photo or best body while pursuing a fruitless relationship with someone who does not have more than their looks to offer. The reverse can also be damaging. How you look can be the only reason for the high number of messages, likes, and replies you get and vice versa. That will only have a negative effect on your self-esteem and sense of self-worth.
3. Online dating has the risk of moving too quickly
Online dating allows people to get very close very quickly. Having access to a new partner at the swipe of a screen can give a false sense of security in the relationship. People who fall for this end up moving their relationship offline too quickly and then realize they don’t know the other person at all.
Again, this is another attribute that cuts across online dating apps drawbacks On some occasions, when things click so fast between you and another user, you may have just found the right person for you. Nonetheless, taking things slow and getting to know your partner organically is still the best way to go.
4. Online dating can be dangerous
The most common cases against online dating are the multiple cyber and physical dangers one risks by using the platforms. Scammers have been known to frequent online dating sites, setting up various profiles with pictures of real people stolen from their social media, all with the hopes of defrauding unsuspecting victims.
Fishing out scammers can be difficult. They are well-spoken and patient. With the constant need to post and update on social media, scammers have a large pool of images and videos to steal from and people to impersonate. People think that they should have their guard up when asked for financial favors or their account details, but it gets a little trickier than that. With prolonged conversation, scammers can draw out other personal information that can enable them to impersonate you or steal your identity.
5. Fake profiles on online dating sites
Catfishing is the act of impersonating a third party and using their identity and image to interact with people online. Most catfishing accounts do not have any malicious intent towards their victims. Still, it is a serious concern when using online dating sites. With very little verification on free platforms, you will come across profiles claiming to have a certain height, age, weight, ethnicity, career, and even using photos they found online. Often, you won’t know the truth until the relationship has gotten serious.
Related Article: Dating Scams You Should Watch Out For
6. Online dating can be exhausting
Online dating can take an emotional and mental toll on you. The continuous barrage of messages and the constant need to reply to every message just because you don’t want to miss out on “The One” can be draining. You can quickly become emotionally vulnerable and open to different people (sometimes at the same time). It is easy to feel rejected when a potentially good relationship doesn’t pan out, and so on. Also, online dating can leave you feeling washed out and in worse shape than when you started.
In the end, building relationships online is here to stay, even as users and experts continue to reassess the pros and cons of online dating sites. The data on user info and the fact that the online dating industry is worth billions of dollars worldwide proves it. In just a few years of their existence, online dating apps like TrulyChinese have changed the way we view courtship and how people of all ages approach romantic relationships. Like any service, online dating has its flaws, but when done right, online dating can be an incredible tool for facilitating long-lasting and genuine romantic connections. But the best way to know for sure is to give it a try. Just make sure to keep a note of these benefits and drawbacks of online dating.
