What Online Dating Sites Aren’t Telling You

Advice
  • Tuesday, March 12 2013 @ 09:32 am
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Dating sites tell you a lot of things:

  • That there's no stigma around online dating anymore.
  • That the Internet a safe, fun, and efficient way to meet people.
  • That using a carefully-crafted matching algorithm gives you a greater chance of finding love than chance meetings.
  • That online dating opens you up to a world of partner possibilities that you never would have had otherwise.

But have you ever wondered what dating sites aren't telling you? What do they know that you don't?

CBSMarketeWatch.com asked the same questions, and compiled a list of 10 things online dating sites won't tell you about the risks and rewards of looking for love online.

  1. Finding a soul mate is expensive. Some sites, like POF.com and OkCupid, offer services for free, but most charge a fee. Users can often save by purchasing multiple months at a time, but fees can easily add up thanks to the automatic subscription renewals employed by many sites.
  2. Everyone is single sooner or later. It used to be that "online dating" was a dirty word. Now couples are happy to admit they were introduced via the Net, and the Web is becoming a particularly popular way for niche singles to meet. A significant percentage of online daters are baby boomers, an age group that is more likely to be single, divorced or widowed compared to the general population.
  3. Cupid's arrow often misses. They can't all be winners. Even the most advanced algorithm isn't a foolproof system. Dating sites are getting increasingly good at pairing up compatible singles, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.
  4. So many liars, so little time. Over half of U.S. online daters lie on their profiles, says a survey by global research company Opinion Matters, and dating sites do very little to ensure that members are being truthful. It's up to you separate the honest singles from the scammers and truth-stretchers.
  5. And you thought Facebook was nosy. It's easy to get sucked into the Web's promise of anonymity and overshare. eHarmony asks users to respond to nearly 150 questions. OkCupid users can answer thousands of questions at any time, on just about any subject. All those responses mean lots of data, and lots of opportunities for the sites to sell that data to third parties. Most don't, but it's still something to consider.

Hold tight...check back later for the second half of the list.