Online Dating

Online dating is the "use of websites that provide a database of potential partners--typically in close geographical proximity--that one can browse and contact, generally for a fee." [1] Popular examples of online dating websites include Match.com, eHarmony.com, okCupid.com, and plentyOfFish.com.

Online dating sites are characterized by the use of online profiles and recommender systems.

Profiles

Users interact with each other through the use of profiles. Users tend to make their profiles more favorable to others, the most common exaggerations in appearance, marital status, and career.

There is a complex interaction when a user builds a profile. Two personalities, the "true self" or the "traits or characteristics individuals possess and would like to but are not usually able to express" and the "actual self" or "traits or characteristics that individuals possess and express in social settings," are utilized. [] The user tends to emphasize the "true self" than the "actual self," because the user can display the favorable qualities of one's self that is not apparent in physical social situations.

The interactions on an online dating site is a "highly reflexive process" in which users must "contend with a perpetual cycle of self-disclosure opportunities, such as revealing personal data and feelings. [] The anonymous nature of the Internet creates skepticism among online dating users, and therefore, the cycle of self-disclosure mimics offline progression of intimacy in that users confide and build trust in each other. Eventually, users will remove the uncertainty among each other, and begin intimacy. []

Popular Use

Despite the economic recession, online dating websites have reported increased traffic to their sites that may be due to the unemployed having more time, and online dating as an inexpensive alternative to meeting people.

Relationships formed through online dating sites do not always constitute a romantic one, and if they are, do not always progress solely through virtual processes. It is found that many users choose to arrange a physical encounter rather quickly, than get to know another user exclusively online. Most users met physically in order to get to know each other better, thus delegating the web service as only a tool for facilitating the initial meeting.[4]

Ethical Implications

In 2010, Carole Markin sued Match.com, an online dating site, for failing to have background check on its users. On a date arranged through the site, she was sexually assaulted by a registered sex offender, Alan Paul Wurtzel. [2] The court case brought up issues of relationships facilitated through online interactions, specifically about the anonymity and deceitful techniques of users.

Various critics, including modern Luddites, have focused on online dating sites as evidence of the deteriorating morals of human relationships caused by technology. Some arguments include that online dating sites seek to commodify human intimacy, and reduce the sanctity of love to something that can be advertised, bought and found through a search engine. [1]

References

1. Sautter, 2010, p. 555

2. Williams, 2011, Los Angeles Times, "Match.com agrees to screen for sex offenders to settle lawsuit"

3. "The recession: Isn't it romantic?" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/fashion/12dating.html

4. Whitty, 2008, p. 1715

5. Gibbs, 2011, p. 72