10 Online Dating Myths You Should Stop Believing

While online dating has been with us for a while, it still remains a controversial topic. While the percentage of people who are using online dating services is constantly growing, the number of those who think that you cannot build a relationship with someone whom you've met online is not getting any smaller. A lot of people feel unsure about using online dating services. Some think it’s dangerous, while others think that only desperate people search for partners online.

The main reason behind that attitude is the large number of myths about online dating. Starting from Christian dating myths that force you in believing that the sole purpose of online dating is getting married and ending up with interracial dating myths that make you think that your chances on getting a partner depends solely on your race, people are spreading their knowledge about the laws of online dating that exist only because there are thousands of fools who continue to believe in them. The vast majority of the online dating myths are at least misleading. In order to make your online dating experience more pleasant we created the list of dating myths that you should stop believing right now. Thus, we offer you to check out the top 10 ridiculous myths of online dating without further ado.

Online Dating is for Desperate

This is one of the common myths about online dating people still believe in. In order to bust it, we need to take a look at why online dating became popular. While a lot of people think that online dating was exclusively created for some reclusive nerds who can't go out to find their prospective partner, the real reason behind online dating lies in the shortage of time. No one would be surprised to learn that the new millennium has become the most time-consuming age in the history of the humanity. We work too much, we study too much, and when we have free time, all we want is to have a moment of peace. It is very hard to carve out some time to go on a date, and let's be honest, one date is never enough to figure out whether you want to build a relationship with your date-mate or not. You need at least three dates for that, but you don't want to waste your time. That's why there are online dating services, where you can chat with your prospective partner in order to understand whether you want to go on the offline date with him or her or not. And speaking about international dating, of course you can dwell on sexist fundamentalists who oppose feminism, but some people are just into foreign partners.

Everyone Lies Online

Another one of the common dating myths is that everyone lies online. People believe that everyone is lying online. Online daters use pictures of their younger selves, they lie about their height and weight, and also about age. Well, it's common for people to lie, but when it comes to online dating, you should lie only in the case you are not planning any offline dates with your pen-mate. The offline dates clear everything out, and the vast majority of online dating services' users understand that. Of course, some may lie about it, as the idea of creating more desirable online persona than you really are is quite suggestive, but to say that the majority of online daters lie is ultimately a false claim.

Men Are Not Interested in Women in Their 30s

Another myth about dating is that men are not interested in women in their thirties. Unlike other myths that we've already mentioned and going to mention later, this one has even facts that prove that tendency. People talk about the undeniable data that prove that women in their thirties are at the bottom of romantic chain. You can actually see where this myth is coming from. According to popular belief, women generally tend to find partners of their age, while men in their thirties and forties are generally interested in girls ten to twenty years younger. But thinking that you have no chances because of the supposed tendency is ridiculous. If you check that common belief carefully, you can see some contradiction there, which comes as an elephant in the room. Men in their thirties and forties may be interested in girls in their early twenties, but girls are not that interested in them. Why? Well, because, according to that common belief, women prefer to date men of their age, tisk tisk.

Everything Depends on Photos

Another myth about online dating is that people pick partners depending on their profile pictures. It is foolish to believe in that. While a pretty picture can attract attention, your success on the online dating market depends on your conversational abilities. You see, online dating gives you an opportunity to get to know someone better without being distracted by his or her appearance. Ask yourself, would you ask someone out based solely on his or her appearance? You won't. Thus, if someone has a pretty profile picture, but you have nothing to talk about, it is highly unlikely that you would end up on your first offline date. We are not saying that pictures are not important at all, but they are not as important as people tend to believe.

All Online Dating Sites Are Scam

One of the biggest dating myths is that all online dating services are scam. People like to dwell on that all the girls on the dating sites are nothing more than con-artists whose only aim is to fool you into giving them money or hack your personal and financial data. As with the ageism of online dating, you can see where this myth is coming from. Definitely a lot of people became victims of online swindlers, but it is delusional to believe that there are sites that were designed for online scammers. Not a single site guarantees that you won't become an online scam victim, but there is a way to feel more safe – stick with the reputable services, where you can report suspicious accounts. Also, never give your personal information to a chat mate that you haven't met offline.

Online Relationships Are Doomed

Here comes the cherry on the top – if you met each other online, your relationship is doomed. The funny part is that myth has some data to prove it. One survey says that one third of married couples met each other online. Another survey says that 5% of married couples who met each other online end up divorcing. Another survey, that dates back to the mid noughties, states that couples who met online are unlikely to get married. Now, let's bust them separately. The fact that only one third of married couples met each other online can be explained by the fact that online dating is around only for two decades. Speaking about the 5% of married couples who met each other online ending up with a divorce – the percentage of divorced couples among those who met each other offline is 7,5%. And speaking about the mid noughties' survey, the mistake is that 16% of couples that meet each other online are gay, and there was no widespread same-sex marriages in the mid noughties.

Match-Making Algorithms Are Better Than Searching on Your Own

This is quite an interesting myth, as it compliments online dating, rather than makes it look terrible. Yep, a lot of people believe that match-making algorithms are able to find you your significant other. This myth clearly shows that people still like to believe in fairy tales. Isn't it nice to complete the personality criteria and then get matched with the compatible mate? Unfortunately, there is no proof that using those algorithms would work better than any other approach. Besides, the match-making algorithms rely primarily on similarities between the prospective mates. And it goes like oh, you should date, as both of you are introverts or oh, you are a perfect match because both of you are extroverts. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Aside from the fact that similarities between partners have nothing to do with couple's happiness, those match-making algorithms often misrepresent the result. An account that must have a 90% compatibility with yours, shows that you match only 30%. All in all, searching on your own is way better.

Online Dating Is The Reason Behind The Hook-Up Culture

Another common myth is that online dating sites opened the gates to dating hell, and now we are having a dating apocalypse, which is manifested in a hook-up culture. Yep, a lot of people say that dating apps like Tinder are just for having casual sex. And, let's be honest, if there hadn't been online dating sites, we wouldn't have Tinder now. But this myth is nothing but hysterical reaction to something that has been here for ages. People were into casual sex long before the arrival of online dating, and long before the Internet had been invented. If you were good at your literature classes, then you know that casual sex was a key plot point to many novels of the 19th century. Moreover, the recent study of the American Sociological Association proved that such thing as the hook-up culture doesn't even exist. And while a lot of media outlets claim that youth gets more promiscuous not taking sex seriously, the same study shows that youth in 2018 has as much sex as youth in 1988 had.

Online Dating Is Dangerous

Oh, you don't know who that person you are chatting with truly is. He may be a deranged man, like Patrick Bateman from Bret Easton Ellis's “American Psycho”. Men, beware too, as the girl whom you are chatting with right now may turn out to be as frenzied as Asami Yamazaki from Ryu Murakami's “Audition”. Besides, there was an actual case with the “Craigslist Killer”, who killed women he had met online. So, that definitely means that you should stick with the good old offline dating. But, now think, do you really know the guy or the girl whom you want to ask out that well? Are you sure that he or she doesn't have a basement full of corpses of their exes? You aren’t. See, offline dating is as risky as its online counterpart is. Now, back to the statistics, each match-making agency makes over 25,000 first offline dates every day, and the reports about dangerous behavior are extremely rare. Besides, the accounts of those who exhibited disturbing behavior are immediately suspended. Certain online dating services check their users against the National Sex Offender Registry. So, the chances of going on the first offline date with a psycho are way too low to call online dating dangerous.

The Three Day Rule Myth

Now, let's imagine that your first offline date went fine and your pen-mate didn't turn out to be a psycho, you might be thinking about the three day rule. If you don't know what the three day rule is, then you're up to discover another myth about dating. According to this myth you need to wait three days before calling or texting your date-mate back after the first offline date. Why? Well, probably, because it would make your date-mate want you more. But it generally doesn't work, as it is nothing more than waste of time and game-playing. It may actually backfire, as your prospective partner may start thinking that you've lost your interest in him or her if you won't reply to his or her messages or give a call back. So, don't believe in myths and don't follow mythical rules.