The Internet Ally
- Sunday, December 08 2013 @ 09:04 pm
- Contributed by: Jet
- Views: 1,112
On the internet, we tend to be skeptical of anything that looks too good to be true - because, quite frequently, it is. Thus, when you encounter a profile that seems to hit all the right notes with you, it’s not a bad idea to copy and paste a bit into an internet search; is this really a great writer or a one-size-fits-all winner?
Don’t be shocked if your search returns more than one hit; after all, many people sign up for multiple sites, and it stands to reason that they’d crib from their own work for at least some of it. However, if the name, location, and general stats are all drastically different, but the profile itself is identical, it might be time to ask some difficult questions.
That being said, every plagiarized work has to come from somewhere, right? It may not be incredibly likely that you’ve stumbled upon the original author, but the chance does exist. If you’re willing to give your potential match a chance regardless of their questionable profile ethics, tread carefully and critically - do your email interactions sound like the same “voice”? Does this person display any other red flags you might otherwise normally ignore? You can also try the direct approach: ask them point-blank, “Are you aware this profile is used elsewhere on the internet in x different locations?”
If your profile has been sitting unchanged for some time, there’s also a chance you’ve unwittingly been copied elsewhere. Try doing a search for your own profile; you might be surprised at what comes up! The chance of being mistaken for a plagiarizer, or worse, a scammer, is yet another reason to update your profile regularly. And eluding a search engine shouldn’t be your only focus; your profile may have been great when you first wrote it years ago, but does it accurately reflect who you are today? Remember, you want someone to be interested in you as you are now, not a previous version.
An internet search engine seems like an unlikely companion in online dating, but it can be a great ally. Not only can it be an aid in assessing your own gut instincts, it can prevent you from some embarrassment of your own.
Don’t be shocked if your search returns more than one hit; after all, many people sign up for multiple sites, and it stands to reason that they’d crib from their own work for at least some of it. However, if the name, location, and general stats are all drastically different, but the profile itself is identical, it might be time to ask some difficult questions.
That being said, every plagiarized work has to come from somewhere, right? It may not be incredibly likely that you’ve stumbled upon the original author, but the chance does exist. If you’re willing to give your potential match a chance regardless of their questionable profile ethics, tread carefully and critically - do your email interactions sound like the same “voice”? Does this person display any other red flags you might otherwise normally ignore? You can also try the direct approach: ask them point-blank, “Are you aware this profile is used elsewhere on the internet in x different locations?”
If your profile has been sitting unchanged for some time, there’s also a chance you’ve unwittingly been copied elsewhere. Try doing a search for your own profile; you might be surprised at what comes up! The chance of being mistaken for a plagiarizer, or worse, a scammer, is yet another reason to update your profile regularly. And eluding a search engine shouldn’t be your only focus; your profile may have been great when you first wrote it years ago, but does it accurately reflect who you are today? Remember, you want someone to be interested in you as you are now, not a previous version.
An internet search engine seems like an unlikely companion in online dating, but it can be a great ally. Not only can it be an aid in assessing your own gut instincts, it can prevent you from some embarrassment of your own.
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