Dating can be difficult enough.
Currently, text messages and online dating sites have taken the place of real
“pizza and a movie” dates. Catfish began as a documentary connecting Nev, now
the host of the TV show, with a woman he fell in love with online. Little did
he know the love of his life was an imposter and lying through fake images on
social media and dating sites. If this happened to him, it could be happening
to thousands more online dating users. Thus, Catfish the TV series was born.
Catfish tapes someone who has met “the love of their life” online and takes them to meet their love in
person for the first time.
Online
dating has boomed in the past few years. Men and women are almost equally
participating with men at about 52% and women at 48%. It seems to me that both
men and women are equally trying to find love which was a little surprising. I
expected women to outnumber men by a landslide since I feel women are more
eager to want a relationship, but I was wrong.
A
study done by Michigan State University and Cornell University in 2007 showed
that 80% of online daters have lied on their personal sites. Men and women
differ about how much they stretch the truth, but consistently show they lie
about their height, weight and age.
A
picture is worth a thousand words and according to this study, those words
happen to be the most lies on a dating site. Dr. Catalina Toma from the
Department of Communication at Cornell University, one of the researchers of
the study, agrees. In an interview with Women’s Day magazine she stated,
“photographs were identified as the single most deceptive element of the
person’s profile.”
Magic
behind digital photo editing can make anyone look better than they really are.
It can be so easy to mislead someone to think you are something you are not. I
just do not see how anyone can fall in love with someone they have never met in
person.
Bitterness aside, I am a personable
person who can imagine how difficult it is to be socially awkward and try to
find love. I can understand meeting someone online and talking to them on a
normal basis and getting to know someone that way. This is especially true for
people who do not have the time to go out and date frequently. However, I do
not believe that anyone can fall in love without ever meeting face to face.
I am not a completely trusting
person. I know anyone can lie online and through messaging. I know not everyone
is a conniving cheat but a little fib can go a long way. Sites can match you to
a perfect partner based on the information you give to them. Even with the
“perfect match” it can still not work out. While people need to have a lot in
common and are personally attracted to someone, they also need to be physically
attracted to someone. You cannot feel that through a screen or possibly
enhanced fake photos of someone. Also, talking online gives you the opportunity
to date more than one person at a time. Who wants someone they have feelings
for talking to many other people besides you?
Personal interaction is key. Websites and messaging
do not allow you to completely connect with someone. I’d rather hear a whole
hearted laugh at a joke than get an “lol.” I am also not a gullible person and
know the perfect angle to get my face to look how I want it to in a photo. We
are all guilty of it. I believe that the only true way to fall in love with
someone is to meet them and interact with them sans LCD screen.
The way I
see it, if you truly want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you
should be willing to spend some time with them. It may sound gushy but nothing
beats the crazy feeling in your stomach when your crush rings your doorbell to
pick you up for a real date. You can’t hold someone’s hand through the computer
monitor and you can’t kiss someone good night through a text. Nothing beats a
real kiss goodnight.
http://www.womansday.com/sex-relationships/dating-marriage/online-dating-profile-lies
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