Online Dating
Online dating is a method of meeting new people and possibly forming relationships with them. These relationships can be purely casual, romantic, sexual or any combination of the three. Most online dating sites allow users to create profiles and specify what they are looking for. However, therein lays one of the major problems with online dating. The nature of it makes it very open to deception since a person is allowed to describe himself and can falsify whatever he wants. For example, a person may lie about age, weight or occupation in order to seem more attractive to others. It is also possible for people to misrepresent themselves by claiming photos of others as their own or by using old or heavily-edited photos of themselves.
People may misrepresent themselves to seem more attractive or to gain more search listings and so increase their chances of finding a relationship. This will obviously lead to disappointment for the other party when real-life meetings are arranged. Misrepresentation may also be used as a tool by predators to find easy victims however. It is recommended by online dating sites to stage first-time meetings in public places, always carry a cell-phone and to never allow dates to meet you at your home. It is also recommended that persons inform an outside party as to when and where he/she is going and to give an expected return time. These recommendations are meant as precautionary measures to ensure the safety of people meeting for the first time.
