Understanding the Intricacies of Online Dating Sites – Do you believe you’ve met your perfect girl or guy online, but are they really who they claim to be? In recent years, the popularity of dating sites and mobile dating applications has skyrocketed, opening up new opportunities for modern singles to find love.
In particular, Mobile dating apps are exploding in popularity as new waves of data seek immediacy in their social interactions. The appeal is obvious: social usefulness is all about relevancy, and our smartphones have the most intimate and essential understanding of who I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m at.
The rapid acceptance of online dating as a whole has been aided by the smartphone growth phenomenon, with at least 15% of American adults surveyed claiming they have used an online dating platform or mobile dating app. With Valentine’s Day approaching, lonely hearts will turn to the internet searching for love, but be aware that some will be looking for weak singles to entangle in their web of deception.
Unsavory characters can use it for crime and deception, as with other technology. Many unsuspecting daters searching for the particular person may be ‘catfished’ in today’s world of online dating. Catfishing has become so popular that it has two descriptions in the Oxford English Dictionary. In this sense, a catfish is someone who establishes a false online identity to engage in misleading online romances.
The incidence of catfishing has been brought to the fore by the advent of online dating; there was a reality TV show called Catfish on MTV that featured people who had been deceived for months, if not years, at a time. Catfishing usually leaves the victim with a broken heart and a bruised ego, but these sophisticated scams can also result in multimillion-dollar losses. In reality, online romance scams are big business in Canada, with 990 cases of romance fraud recorded in 2015, involving 672 victims who lost a total of $16.9 million.
You might do a Google search on anyone, but you could miss important details that could make or break your date if it doesn’t appear on the first few pages of Google results. A Google search could yield some valuable information. Still, it is unlikely to discover crucial data such as if they have a criminal record, felony, and misdemeanor charges, or worse, whether they are a wanted fugitive.
Some online dating sites have built-in tests to verify profiles’ authenticity, which use sophisticated algorithms to spot patterns of what a fake profile looks like and detect fake profiles. Social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have long checked public figures’ legitimacy and other celebrities’ accounts by putting a checkmark next to their names. On the other hand, identity checking is a much-desired functionality that many social media sites, including online dating and most mobile dating apps, also lack.
There are now a plethora of identity authentication solutions available for online dating companies to use. Several dating sites, including Zoosk and Badoo, have already taken steps to combat catfishing by including some verification in their services.
Users on dating sites will pay for authentication features as a ‘premium service, giving them the option of a safer and more secure dating experience if they want. Daters may also voluntarily authorize an identity search against criminal records and other authentication areas, ensuring that they are cleared without breaching any privacy laws.
In the world of online dating, confidence is crucial because, without it, the industry can be one swipe away from losing customer reputation and trust. One thing is sure: as the season of love approaches, it pays to be extra cautious, whether you’re looking for your Tinderfella or Tinderella.