The internet can be a tricky place to meet people. We’ve all seen Catfish – we know what can happen. But online dating remains an excellent way to connect with people and find true, meaningful love in this modern era.
This conundrum leads us to seek out help in the form of reading online dating reviews. Which dating site is the best to use? Which dating app can I trust?
The problem here is that online dating reviews have a lot of factors in play that can skew them pretty easily.
Money Talks
Marketing budgets have more to do with boasting about a platform than real-life experiences do most of the time. And anyone living in this time period knows that stats and numbers can be cooked.
Entire reviews are written and funded by the companies they rave about. The same companies also fund bad reviews about perfectly good dating sites that operate the same way they do.
Trusting online dating reviews is difficult when there’s so much money involved. It’d be better to trust the word of a friend or family member who used the app or website, but even that isn’t easy to rely on. The fact of the matter is trust will come down to who you’re talking to – not what platform you’re using.
The Person Is the Problem
The issue is that while a website or app can be quantified overall, sneaky people will find a way to sneak in. Trust comes down to the person you’re talking to – not the platform. No amount of security is airtight when those catfish are swimming around.
In the online dating sea, so many fish are ready to be caught. But you don’t want catfish. And the truth is, no matter what online dating reviews say, there isn’t a single online dating platform that’s free of them.
So, when you’re reading all those online dating reviews, you might be thinking, “okay, this website seems to work,” – and right out of the gate, you get a scammer coming at you. It’s time to stop focusing on the reviews and pay more attention to the person you’re talking to. The catfish-proof dating platform doesn’t exist – but great people who want to get to know you do.
Should You Trust Online Dating Reviews?
With all of those factors in play, the best method probably is not to trust online dating reviews as your end all be all. There are plenty of platforms out there, and they’re all full of trustworthy people – and people who aren’t.
The end game is to find someone who gets you – not to alter your desires to the whims of a dating site. Just because an app thinks specific qualities make you a more qualified candidate in the dating field doesn’t mean that’s going to work for you – no matter how many stars that site has. You need an online dating platform that fits your flavor, and that’s not necessarily the one with which most people claim to have found success.
You’ll have more success by trusting a platform that matches your style. At the end of the day, you can’t really trust online dating reviews – but you can always trust that you know what you like. And if you like the look of a platform, that’s enough reason to give it a shot! Again, if you’re drawn to it, the people you’ll be interested in are probably drawn to it too.
Finding the Person You Can Trust: Navigating Online Dating
So what do you do? Trusting your gut isn’t always going to work out. Intuition isn’t a perfect source of information when weeding out the bad apples.
Go into the process honestly while presenting your best self in your picture and profile. Honesty on your end is setting your karma up for getting honesty back.
Then, it’s a series of trial and error. Start conversations that interest you, and watch out for these red flags.
1) Red Flag: There Aren’t Any Pictures
If you’ve been talking to someone for a while and they refuse to send you a selfie, they might just be trying to be prudent. However, if there’s no photo evidence of them on any other online profile, that’s odd. Or, if there are other profiles, but it just doesn’t seem like they’re tied to the person you’re talking to, that’s a red flag as well.
If you really like talking to this person but are concerned that they might not be the person in their picture, explain how you’re feeling to them. Ask for a selfie – not that kind – but just a photo to confirm that you’re really talking to them. And if that’s too much to ask, then that’s too big of a red flag to ignore.
2) Red Flag: They Ask for Money
Listen to this section very clearly (lol)! The answer is NO!
No one who you’re trying to date online should be asking you for money. If they do, it’s the biggest red flag out there. It doesn’t matter if they are who they say they are. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a pretty good time talking to them. Stop anyways.
Even if you’re not opposed to spoiling the one you love – the person you’re looking for should deserve that kind of financial fawning. If they haven’t even met you yet, they haven’t earned your money. And if they have met you but seem primarily concerned with finances, that doesn’t spell l-o-v-e. That spells s-c-a-m.
Showering a love interest with cash should be your decision. They shouldn’t be asking for it. If they are, they’re probably more concerned with your pockets than your heart. And your heart deserves better than that.
3) Red Flag: They Won’t Meet You
After a while, you want to meet the person you’ve been talking to online. That’s the whole point, right? I mean, if you’re never going to see them in person, there’s simply a better form of companionship out there for you.
Online dating is meant to turn into something more. Chatting online should become in-person dates at some point. After all, how can you spend time together, live together, and snuggle if you never meet?
You deserve snuggles. If someone refuses to meet you, and it’s been a significant amount of time since you’ve started talking, you probably won’t like it. You don’t even have to find out what it is. Just hit the reset button and go find your human teddy bear.
Online Dating Reviews vs. Following the Red Flags
Trusting your judgment and watching out for red flags is better than depending on online dating reviews exclusively. Taking action based on reviews rather than using a platform that speaks to you is not the best way to find success. If you want results – finding a person that you genuinely jive with – then you want to take matters into your own hands.
Don’t leave it up to what the internet says. Rely on what your heart says. Choose the platform that matches your style so you can find people that match you, not some idea of what the perfect dateable person should be.
But trust doesn’t end there. Catfish will lurk out there, even on a site that works with your best interests in mind. Don’t get carried away – watch out for those red flags! It’s a part of the online dating process. Everything has its benefits and downsides. You have to wade through the water to get to the sweet shores of love.
Trust yourself with red flags in hand, not online dating reviews!
