Online dating has become one of the most common ways to meet a potential partner. While some people have had luck with meeting their future spouse, others have been disappointed by the experience.
In this blog post, we have collected the main pros and cons of online dating.
We will take a look at both the benefits of online dating and the disadvantages and the negative aspects of online dating apps and sites before making our decision on whether or not this is an option for you.
Pros of Online dating
First, we’ll consider the advantages of using online dating and why it might be a great option to find a romantic partner.
Benefit 1.:You have access to more singles than ever before
One of the biggest pros of online dating is that you have access to a bigger pool of potential dates.
There are tons of online dating sites, each with large user bases – meaning that if you’re having trouble finding someone, online dating gives you access to even more people.
In addition, apps like Tinder allow you to view thousands of singles who live in your area and happen to be online at the moment! This can be a great option for those looking for a casual fling as well as those looking for something serious.
The online world has opened up many opportunities when it comes to meeting new people and increasing our options.
Benefit 2.: Online dating can save you time
One of the advantages of online dating is that it eliminates having to go out in person and get to know total strangers from scratch. With online dating you can preselect your matches based on their online profiles and get to know them by chatting before you meet them.
This way, online dating can definitely help you save time. It can be especially useful if you are busy with studying or working and can’t find time to go out and start the dating experience from scratch.
Benefit 3.: You have more control over the process
Another benefit of online dating is that you have more control over the process. You decide if you want to meet up with someone or not. If someone becomes to annoying, you can cut them off without hesitation.
You don’t need to feel anxious waiting for your blid date to show up or worry about whether he or she will like you in person. While online dating does give you access to all kinds of people, it also gives you the chance to screen them before meeting in person.
Benefit 4.: Find people with similar interests
In addition to this, another benefit of online dating sites and apps is they will also show you the person’s interests and preferences which could be very helpful when it comes down to making some important preselection.
This means that online dating can enable you to find people that actually interest you and share your hobbies and interests instead of just going out with whoever happens to be free each night.
On the other hand, if you can’t tolerate someone who is smoking or a heavy drinker you can easily skip those people. There are online dating apps like Bumble that have specific filters for these kinds of preferences, so you can filter them out so they don’t even show up on your match queue.
The online world is a vast place and online dating offers you the chance to explore it and find exactly what you’re looking for by pinpointing your ideal partner using specific criteria like age, location and interests or the negative filters we have mentioned.
Benefit 5.: It might be easier to start for shy people
Another great thing about online dating is that it can be easier for people who are shy or introverted.
When you have the opportunity to write a message online before meeting someone, this may give you time to think about what you would like to say. For some, online dating feels less intimidating than taking the first move when it comes to asking someone out face-to-face.
Benefit 6: There are so many online dating sites and apps
Whereas with traditional dating where you have a limited number of bars and places to go, online dating offers you a much larger range of options.
In online dating, there are so many sites and apps that you can choose from depending on exactly what your preferences are. These include popular dating apps like Tinder or Bumble, but niche dating apps that focus on certain target demographics like young adults, older online dating or Christian online dating.
Benefits 7: Online dating can be done absolutely free
Although there are many paid features or subscriptions most of the dating apps and sites online offer their online dating services for free too.
There are also lots of online free dating sites where you can meet your online date without spending a penny.
This allows you to try out online dating without having to pay a high price and find out if online dating is right for you before committing to anything.
Advantages of online dating – Summary
Pros of online dating are clear – online dating is a great way to expand your options and save time when looking for someone special! Now, let’s take a look at some downsides online dating can have.
Cons of online dating
While there are many pros of online dating, it also has its disadvantages which should be considered carefully before making any decision on whether or not online dating is right for you.
Disadvantage 1: Competition in online dating is also huge
One of the biggest online dating disadvantages is that online daters are competing with so many other options, which makes it harder for them to stand out. This online dating disadvantage applies mostly for guys though.
This means that guys doing online dating need to work extra hard on their online profiles if they want to make a memorable first impression and be chosen by someone they like.
The good news is online dating gives you more control over the process but this also means having to put in time and effort into making your online profile attractive and interesting enough for people to choose you over all the other online daters who are just as eager as you are!
Disadvantage 2. online dating sites have a lot of scammers, bots, fake profiles
Another online dating disadvantage is the fact that online dating is an easy place for scammers to be.
There are many online daters who try and scam other online daters in order to gain their trust or money, so it’s important to be aware of online scams when using online dating applications.
Additionally, online dating makes it easy for scammers to target online daters because online dating is often anonymous or semi-anonymous in nature and you can easily make fake profile or catfish when communicating with other online daters.
These elements can make online dating a little bit less safe than regular online dating, so online daters should take extra caution before moving online dating into more serious territory like arranging to meet up in real life.
The good news is that online dating sites are aware of these dangers and use various methods to screen their online daters for safety purposes.
Disadvantage 3.: Online dating sites are full of creepy people
Another online dating con is that online daters have to deal with the online creeps. This is especially a problem for women in online dating.
There are lots of online daters who, for whatever reason, display their insatiable deviancy online by being creepy towards other online daters they encounter on various online dating sites and apps.
Fortunately, most dating app and sites offer ways to block these inappropriate people online.
Disadvantage 4. Online dating can be a huge time suck if you are not intentional
One online dating con that online daters should be aware of is that online dating can take up a lot of time if they are not careful.
This online dating disadvantage can lead you to spend a lot of online time online without actually finding and getting actual dates.
Online daters should be careful not to spend too much on online dating sites and apps, by only messaging people without setting up dates. All that online chatting and messaging could result in nothing going forward, which means wasting your time online.
Here is an online dating tip: you can avoid this by setting online dating goals like number of dates per week or limiting the online dating activity by blocking the time-sucking dating apps during certain time periods. This way you can keep yourself healthy and avoid online dating burnout.
Disadvantage 5. You can spend a bunch of money on subscriptions and paid features
The last negative aspect of online dating is that you can end up spending a lot of money on premium subscriptions and paid features.
Many online dating sites charge online daters for paid features, like letting you see who viewed your profile. (Tinder Gold.)
There are some premium features that are worth paying for but if you feel that online dating doesn’t work for you you should first focus on fundaments (good profile, great openers) rather than spending a bunch of money on premium features.
Summary – Online dating pros and cons
Though online dating has its own set of disadvantages, the pros usually outweigh the cons for most people.
Also, as we said online dating is very easy to start out with and you can also do traditional dating while being an active online dater.
All online dating sites and apps offer free online registration which makes online dating even easier to get into.
If you are uncertain, you should try online dating at least for a few months before making the final decision if online dating is worth it for you or not.
