Online Dating

Online dating can be daunting, whether you’ve done it off and on for years or it’s the first time you’re giving Tinder or OkCupid a try. It’s not for the faint of heart – so take courage in the fact that you are putting yourself out there to find love.

Unfortunately, no matter how much of a seasoned “pro” you think you might be, too many people make the same mistakes when it comes to online dating, and you might be one of them.

To optimize your profile and attract more matches to you requires some effort and savvy. Ask for help when you need it, and try to avoid these five online dating mistakes:

Imagine never having to deal with aggressive texts or unwanted photos ever again. Ghostbot hopes to make online dating easier by handling bad dates so you don't have to.

As you may have guessed from the name, Ghostbot is a bot that ghosts on your behalf. 'Ghosting' – for those who aren't up on 21^st century dating lingo – is the act of ending a relationship by disappearing. Instead of initiating a formal breakup, someone who ghosts will simply stop responding to your messages. You'll never see or hear from them again (good luck getting closure).

Unsurprisingly, ghosting is considered bad form. It's rude, immature, and cowardly. But anyone who reads the dating horror stories that are passed around the Web can see that, sometimes, when a date is delusional or dangerous enough, ghosting can seem like the only viable option.

Swiping could leave you with the love of your life, or crippled confidence. A new survey from the University of North Texas found that singles who used Tinder are more likely to have lower self-esteem and feel unhappy about their looks than people who don’t use dating apps.

“Tinder users reported having lower levels of satisfaction with their faces and bodies and having lower levels of self-worth than the men and women who did not use Tinder,” said Jessica Strübel, PhD, who presented the research at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

You've been told not to judge a book by its cover, but let’s face it: online dating is one big library and you have no intention of reading most of the books. You'll barely spare a glance for the description on the dust jacket.

It doesn’t stop at online dating. You’ve judged professional contacts by their headshots on LinkedIn. You’ve judged your partner’s exes by their Instagram pics. You’ve even judged strangers who disagree with you in the comments section by their chosen profile photos.

Pictures on social networks are users’ opportunity to present themselves and to affect how others judge them, but can a picture tell you anything about who a person really is? Are our judgements accurate?

Getting started with online dating has never been simpler. Where once new users had to fill out lengthy profiles and answer extensive questionnaires, apps like Tinder are increasingly relying on bare-bones profiles and social media integration. Now all a new user has to do to start swiping is sign in with Facebook.

Voila! Your pictures are instantly imported and profile details are already filled out, so you can get straight to what you came for: mindless swiping and superficial judgements of profile pics.

Press pause. Just because you can start dating in 5 minutes doesn’t mean you should. Mastering the art of online dating takes time, effort, and patience (words no one likes to hear in an era of binge watching television and 1-hour Amazon deliveries).

If you want to date with the greatest chance of success, and the lowest likelihood of burnout, you must do these four things before joining a dating app.

It’s no secret that women tend to fare better in online dating than men, at least as far as opportunities. Women receive far more messages and matches compared to their male counterparts, which can be frustrating for guys who are looking for something more serious than a hook up, but can’t seem to get to a match, let alone a first date.

But to be fair, women don’t have an easy time online dating either. They receive many more unsolicited and even offensive messages and texts, including inappropriate photos and abusive or threatening messages, which is why they have to be more selective in who they communicate with.

So, the gap between men and women in online dating has grown even wider, especially with dating apps like Tinder where men can “mass swipe” right on women, hoping to increase their chances of meeting someone special, while women's inboxes are flooded.