Online Dating Essay

Catfish anyone? According to an article done by the Huffing Post, 53% of Americans display deception in their profiles on online dating websites (Hodge, Greg). This of course makes it extremely difficult for people to find the right person for them. There is a plethora of important personal information that is lied about including looks, jobs and money. This is all done in the hopes of attracting the best partners. Ultimately lying about who you are both internally and externally is damaging and counterproductive.

Firstly, one of the reasons that this phenomenon occurs so much is because online dating gives them an almost endless list of tools and resources in which to manage their identity. According to the Meriam-Webster dictionary, Identity

Even though this is true for men, it is more likely that women will use this form of deception (Hodge, 2012). According to the article, this can be done a number of ways. One way is that instead of using a current representation of themselves, some will select a picture from years ago. Another way is of the use of software such as Photoshop and others to alter their photograph. Some will also spend a significant amount of time choosing a photo out of many to upload onto the site. This might be that historically, women are valued more for their looks above anything else. Evolutionary theory explains that the attractiveness of a woman is important as it can be used to indicate good health and fertility

It is dangerous because it is initially deceitful. One of these dangerous include sexual predators. According to an online article entitled Negatives of Online Dating written by Julius Vandersteen, 25 percent of rapists found their rape victims through online dating databases (Vandersteen). From this, it can be concluded that everyone that posts a profile onto a cyber medium does not always have good intentions. As these sites are easily accessible, these cyber mediums also provide gateways to victims for those with malicious