Disadvantages of Dating Sites

As much as dating sites offer all these advantages and benefits, these sites also have several shortcomings. One of these is that the conditions and guarantees that dating sites provide are not absolute. Though the case may vary from one individual to another, dating sites cannot determine for sure the outcome or satisfaction of each member's experience. Some members might have success in their date search while others may have online relationships that eventually cannot work out in the end.

Because of the nature of a virtual environment, dating sites may not exactly offer the kind of atmosphere some people may expect or want in the process of their date hunt. As such, members may not find their true match who they can actually go out with in the real world. Dating sites replicate a real-world environment where people can gather and meet, and herein lies the inauthenticity of the date setting. Communication is impersonal and obviously, the experience is different compared to actually seeing and having physical contact with the person in a public establishment. Hence, aside from the information given on the person's profile, dating sites cannot provide clues to the other facets of the person's character like habits, mannerisms, and body language. Therefore, the searcher has no way of knowing the other attributes which could probably influence his or her decision to initiate contact and become intimate with the date prospect.

Following this reason, dating sites do not necessarily promote honesty. Most of these sites entail an easy registration; all the person has to do is provide a name and other basic information and that's it. No rigid verification of data is conducted since dating sites want to increase the number of members and render their businesses profitable. The “open” feature in the system of online dating is also seen as a disadvantage, especially for people who are seriously looking for a date; since members want privacy, they can just key in an anonymous or non-existing personality and submit it to the site as a member. Or else, some people get away with writing too-good-to-be-true profiles that convey they are the ideal date match. Others even have the audacity to insert a celebrity photo, like that of Kristin Kreuk or Eva Longoria, to hide their real identities.

Indeed, dating sites can only do so much in matching dates and in actuality, these points do not seem to matter. As long as technologies make life easier and tasks like dating become readily conducted through these advancements, the downsides of online dating can be conveniently ignored by most. With the options offered by dating sites, risks of turning down are deemed minimized and possibilities of meeting the right person to date becomes virtually endless.

Advantages of Dating Sites

Since dating sites utilize technology that allows impersonal communication, people who engage in online dating could enjoy their privacy. Many dating sites are certified and claim that they can easily safeguard the member's information against harmful elements, from viruses to prohibited users. Members can be rest assured that confidential data about themselves like their real identity, contact details, and present whereabouts cannot be instantly viewed by other people. Likewise, this privacy feature also benefits the part of the person looking for a date in that his or her identity is also kept private or anonymous, as he or she browses through the profiles of chosen date candidates. To initiate a conversation with a date prospect, the person simply has to gain access by becoming a member and formally invite the prospect to a correspondence. Once the communication begins and endures, it is up to either or both persons to discern whether or not to unveil their true personalities. But showing real identities is not normally a prerequisite of dating sites and that feature makes it the biggest advantage of these sites.

Since the internet has a wide reach, spanning regions across the planet, the possibility of finding a match through dating sites is huge. The wide coverage of these sites, considering that they are not virtually selective of their members, offers numerous options for the regular female to look for her date, for example. Options are better than none, and in a way, this could be both an advantage and a disadvantage for some sides. For people who are actively seeking for their date and browsing through the profiles in dating sites, having options means that there are more prospects out there to fall back on, just in case the primary choice does not work out. Of course, the selection process could be more lengthy and tedious, but in the end, surely, active date seekers are taking this more as an advantage than as a disadvantage. As for people who are looking for dates yet would rather be content having their profiles posted online in dating sites, more options mean more competition. As such, they would need to enhance their profiles by posting more interesting and perhaps, sexy photos or use deliberately captivating (or exaggerated) content to make their profiles more appealing.

Speaking of content, dating sites also allow the application of various technological resources people now have within their reach. With these, members can opt to have their pictures and photos displayed in the site. They can also use a web camera or webcam to produce real-time appearances and moving introductions to other people visiting the site. For men and women who value creativity and innovation, the utilization of visual effects, particularly text enhancement and graphic design tools, are helpful in bringing out their true nature and hopefully, would add their attractiveness to their prospects. In more ways than one, these technologies encourage a sincere environment where members are free to tell others information about himself or herself and are honest enough to communicate with one another until they are ready to date.

Although the notion that dating sites are expensive is arguable to some, they definitely provide a more immediate and convenient venue for meeting date prospects compared to physical locations. Online dating enables the date searcher to hook up with as many people as he or she wants at the same time for just a certain amount, if applicable and depending on the conditions of the site. This function serves as an aid, not just in initiating a conversation with the desired person, but also in developing an actual relationship with that individual. People who are shy in person might in fact be considered good talkers and listeners, if not already experts in breaking the ice, in the cyberspace realm. This may be attributed to their practice of communicating with a multitude of people in an instant or in the shortest time possible, hence their conversational skills are being continuously developed as they hunt for their dates.

Since the internet is available all the time, people who get involved in online dating can contact their prospects 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thus, the talking and the sharing of ideas and interests can be conducted even in the wee hours of the morning. Although the internet is an immediate medium for communication, people are not pressured into dealing with their date prospects because there is no given time frame for meeting and getting together. They can easily send or receive emails and instant message each other any time of the day. In short, access and all-time connectivity is never a question when it comes to online dating.

As mentioned previously, dating sites basically know no limits when it comes to the personalities, gender, and culture of people who join them. These sites are open to anyone who is willing to experience a unique kind of dating and interaction. Some dating sites have restrictions when it comes to age, but other than that, these sites make its members conscious of the differences as well as similarities of one another. In a way, dating sites go beyond taboos because they enable certain demographies to stretch their abilities and show what they might otherwise deny in person. For example, some women may find dating sites to be liberating and empowering because through these sites, they are able to muster enough courage to ask men out for dates, whereas in real life, they just sit and wait for their Prince Charming to gallop by and take them away. Like in the case of men, dating sites also lessen the humiliating experience for women when their partners say “no” to them. Also, some women who may not be confident enough to merely meet new friends or people out of their circles may find dating sites also rewarding because the reach of these sites go beyond racial and cultural borders. Women also need not worry about whatever inhibitions they may have in person because the people they meet would not primarily take into account what they look like, which is one of the things their male prospects normally put a bearing on.