The Truth about Lying on online dating and the future of online dating: Tackling Fake Identities on the Dating Sites

TACKLING FAKE IDENTITIES ON THE DATING SITES
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Tackling Fake Identities on the Dating Sites
Introduction
Gone are the days when mail used to take more than two days before the recipient can read it and then reply to the same, which would ten take some two or three days. Then came the emails and the social media and they have taken over the lives of most people. Today communication is one of the easiest forms of connections platforms that exist, between two or a group of persons. The revolution that is the internet has allowed persons to connect and communicate at a moment’s notice. One can send messages to their friends through chats and the recipients can reply within seconds, from wherever they are in the world. To do this they have to be logged in to the social sites and create profiles. On the profile are the basic information of the users, which can be viewed by those on the site and works as a starting point, when connecting (Toma, Hancock & Ellison, 2007).
The social websites have taken a step into dating realm, where people get the chance to connect with other persons that are seeking relationships. In the quest for love, social media users refine their profiles to indicate that they are the most favourable mates. This is crucial to the success of the users and forces them to mislead the other users to believe that they possess the qualities. Existing records show that over 16 million Americans have used the dating agencies websites and about 3 million of this lot have ended up in long-term relationships that have led to marriage. Unlike the other media platforms, such the radio and the television, which have existed for some time now and thus, have developed strict rules that regulate the users of the platform. The social medial that uses the internet is still young and majority of the rules and regulations that have been formulated do not capture the idea of misrepresenting the personal information on the social media sites. As such, it is possible for a user to be chatting up a terrorist, paedophiles and other sex offenders without the full knowledge of it, putting their lives in danger (Aron, 2012).
The danger notwithstanding, more than 86% of the users believe that the other users on the sites have misrepresented their information. Surveys indicate that there are over 81% of dating sites users who have indicated wrong information on their profile, regarding their physical attributes, such as height, weight, complexion and age among others. Majority of the men lied about their height and income, while the women lied about their age and height. More than a third of the photographs that are found on the dating sites are not accurate, as most of the users would want to take advantage of the first time impressions. Other than the profiles the users also try to front their best self, by posing as mannered, with quality etiquette, hiding all their flaws in the best way they can much like is c...