The pros and cons of online dating

WASHINGTON - The success of “love at first email” continues to be questionable, with experts arguing the benefits and pitfalls of matchmaking with web services.

Research showed that online dating can be misleading since people often tend to provide inaccurate information about themselves in their profiles.

Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University, and team found that “most people lie about at least one characteristic”, reports Discovery News.

While almost 52.6 percent of the men and 39 percent of the women participating in the research lied about their height, 24.3 percent of the men and 13.1 percent of women deceived with false ages.

Co-author Jeffrey Hancock said: “Participants balanced the tension between appearing as attractive as possible, while also being perceived as honest.”

Beatriz Avila Mileham, who studied online infidelity while at the University of Florida, pointed out the potential of the service in disrupting existing marriages.

Mileham explained: “Never before has the dating world been so handy for married men and women looking for a fling. With cybersex, there is no longer any need for secret trips to obscure motels. An online dating liaison may even take place in the same room with one’s spouse.”

But Internet matchmaking was also argued to be helpful for some people, particularly those seeking partners within a particular community.

Andrew Fiore, a University of California at Berkeley researcher who studies online dating, said, “members of minority groups looking for people like themselves might find online dating more useful than others.”

Ellison added: “I think people that are most likely to benefit from online dating are those that have exhausted their traditional social circles, such as friends of friends, and those that are in professions, or (have) other constraints, that limit their ability to encounter new people on a regular basis.”

So, while the debate continues, Jane Coloccia, author of “Confessions of An Online Dating Addict: A True Account of Dating and Relating in the Internet Age”, who confessed dating 200 guys since posting her first profile at Match.com, explained the impulse behind the soaring popularity of online dating.

She said: “It feeds a neediness of wanting someone to love you.” (ANI)