It’s getting harder and harder every year to imagine our lives without the internet. On the web, we communicate, study, work, listen to music and watch movies, read books, play video games, plan trips and buy tickets, communicate with loved ones and meet new people.
The last point is especially interesting, because online dating has become a truly massive and iconic phenomenon. To date, every third person on the planet has used dating sites or applications at least once. And in the US, for example, 17% of marriages begin with online dating.
Online dating has a lot of advantages, but it is not without obvious disadvantages. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of dating on the web, and try to figure out how these disadvantages can be compensated for.
The positive aspects of online dating
You can easily meet new people from anywhere in the world
Internet dating removes any geographical restrictions. At this moment you can communicate with a person from a neighboring house, and 10 seconds later, with someone from the other side of the world. It is impossible to even imagine how wide the opportunities are that this opens up.
You can more thoroughly vet a partner for communication and relationship potential
You can make your own list of mandatory boxes that a potential partner must tick, and objectively evaluate them before the relationship reaches the next level. We recommend evaluating thoroughly!
You have more time to get to know the other person
No rush. You do not need to rush to arrange an offline date as soon as possible. The first few times online meetings are more than enough. This time can be used to get to know each other and see whether you really have that spark and enough things in common.
The chance to leave a positive impression is higher
You really do have more opportunities to present yourself accurately, show your best sides, cope with the excitement of a new acquaintance and just be yourself. Almost always, online dating is more relaxing than offline dating. Take advantage of this!
Finding your soulmate is really easier
A huge selection of potential partners, flexible settings for searching for people, convenient and unhurried communication — all this allows you to find the one without much effort. All you need is a computer or smartphone and internet access. Everything else is in your hands!
Weaknesses of online dating
There are a lot of scammers on dating sites and apps
This is a really serious problem that has only gotten worse during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to The Washington Post, as early as 2021, scammers were able to swindle dating site users out of more than $300 million. It is noteworthy that in more than half of these cases, the victims of fraud were people over 60 years old. Young people are not so susceptible to the tricks of scammers, but the situation is still very difficult.
The only solution to this problem is to use dating services with high-quality moderation, preferably paid ones. In this regard, Badoo and Bumble succeeded quite well. But you still need to remain vigilant and follow the basic rules of safe online communication.
Many users are looking for a one-night stand
Here, the Tinder dating app comes to mind first, in which many are really not in the mood for a serious and promising relationship, and often looking for a partner for sex. We recommend using those dating sites where users immediately indicate their goals. For example, on the aforementioned Badoo, you must specify them when registering. But, again, the real goals of a person can be very different from those indicated on the site.
The only effective way to understand what the other person really wants is to continue the conversation and get to know them better. Yes, it will take a commitment of time from you, but who said that you can find your love in a few clicks? We have to approach it completely seriously.
It’s difficult to verify the accuracy of information about a person
According to many surveys, about 60-70% of all users of dating services write and tell lies about themselves. And while some only slightly fluff their biographies, others create a completely different personality that has nothing to do with the real one. The problem is also that it can be very difficult to detect this when interacting on classic dating sites and apps.
A good way to get to know the other person better is to use video chat roulette instead of classic dating services. For our part, we can recommend the following platforms:
- Chatroulette — a typical chat roulette with random chat partners. The site used to have serious problems with moderation. But in 2020, the developers seriously took on this issue, introduced artificial intelligence for better moderation, and generally polished up their service quite well.
- CooMeet — an adult chat roulette in which there are no fakes and bots, and the girls here must verify their identities when registering. An ideal platform for men who only want to chat with real and passionate girls.
- Azar — a combination of a videochat roulette and a messenger with quite broad functionality. We recommend trying it if you need more tools for easy communication.
Chatroulette is a great alternative to classic dating, and saves a lot of time and effort. Most importantly, it allows you to expand your circle of acquaintances by a few if not multiple times!
It’s not always possible to understand whether a person is right for you
This is true. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand if you have something in common with the other person or if they’re just adapting to you. To make things a little easier, you can use niche themed dating sites for a narrower audience. And if you like roulette chats, then you can use sites with a search by interests.
Often the search for a soulmate turns into a real routine
Endless swipes and profile views can easily turn into a hopeless and boring routine over time. You can spend hours daily on a site or in an application, already not holding out any hope of finding true love. The only effective way to prevent this is to ration your time on such sites. For example, use them only every other day and for no more than 30 minutes a day.
Change your dating site behavior for success online
As you can see, it doesn’t take a web dating expert to discover the main advantages and disadvantages of online dating. But on the other hand, it’s in your power to eliminate most of the weaknesses of web dating, if you approach the question seriously and comprehensively.
We hope that our advice will help you find the best platform for finding new acquaintances and get what you want — to find the person with whom you will be ready to join hearts and live a long life together. So let each new meeting on the web give you only positive emotions and vivid impressions. Don’t stop, keep moving forward. Many interesting and exciting times are waiting for you!
