Even though online dating has been around for essentially two decades now, it still seems mysterious to some. We’re here to debunk four myths about online dating that, for whatever reason, some people still believe.
Online Dating Myths You Should Forget About
1. Everyone lies in their online dating profile.
Some people are hesitant to make connections with others they’ve met online, as they’ve been warned time and time again that everyone on online dating sites chooses misleading profile pictures, exaggerates their best qualities and hides their worst ones. While it’s inevitable that some people are less than honest, it’s a much smaller percentage of the online dating population than many would have you believe. Most people are looking to establish a genuine connection, and they realize they need to be honest to do so.
2. Online dating is only a means to in-person dating.
Traditional thinking dictates that after a few conversations with someone online, you either need to meet with them in person or give up on them. Modern online daters, however, know that this logic is far from true. Many online daters get great pleasure from the feelings of camaraderie and connection that you can get just from maintaining an online relationship. It’s often more than enough.
3. People only resort to online dating after striking out offline.
“If you’re looking for women on the internet,” the thinking goes, “it must be because you couldn’t find someone in real life.” Obviously, this reasoning has several flaws. Online dating offers a wider dating pool, profiles full of information on romantic prospects, and the means to chat with lots of ladies at once. Compared to all these efficiencies, many daters simply don’t find in-person dating to be worth the time investment.
4. Online daters only care about physical appearance.
Well, maybe this stereotype applies to people both online and offline. But, if anything, online daters have proven themselves to be less superficial than their in-person counterparts. Imagine going out to a bar: You have no basis other than physical appearance to go off of when deciding if you want to start a conversation with someone. Online, you have a page full of information to read through to help evaluate potential matches.
While some people still believe these stereotypes, more and more are recognizing the legitimacy of online dating as they, and people they know, begin to find romantic success on the web.
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