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Online Dating: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly.

Online dating is such a mystery to me. I don't understand the swiping or the matching or really anything that goes into it. I remember a time in my freshman year when all my friends peer pressured (yes, I fell for it) into making a Tinder account. Well, it seemed innocent enough as I swiped through these guys that were less than 30 miles away.  It led to a few matches and it seemed like a great way to get to know these people that went to the same University as me. Well, it wasn't actually fun. People harassed me and sent awful direct messages that I would never like to see again. Even more, random people in my class would say "Oh, I saw your tinder." Which made me feel shame, even though they were on it too. It took until someone else explained it to me what exactly the app is. It appears that it is nothing more than an app that is furthering the "hookup culture" that surrounds us. It is nothing more than a way for people to superficially judged you and then a majority of them make you uncomfortable with their comments. Long story short, I never met anyone in person from that app and I think I had it for maybe 3 days before it was gone from my phone forever.  I learned my lesson regarding these apps and I will probably never use them again. To me, I can see where the good in some of these dating websites exists. I think that there are good people out there that want to find a connection that is maybe hard to find in their social circles or they're just not good at socializing. I think that when the true intent is there, the websites offer a great way for people to get back into the "game" and date. The bad is that too often than not, people fake who they are or alter themselves in ways not present in the real world. But it is a way of human nature to want to be better than you really are. But in terms of the internet, this poses a problem because they cant truly SEE who you are. Even worst, the ugly, where the catfishers thrive. This is one of the most perplexing things to me. How can someone pretend to be someone else to get the attention of another. But as a Psychology student, I understand that I have to look beyond the surface of this problem. There are dozens of reasons why someone might do such a thing. I think foremost it is a way to connect with people they usually never would. In some cases, it's to get back at people. But in all, I think that the internet world of dating is forever a mystery. It is going to be a debate for as long as it exists as to if it is good or bad. Some say they met the love of their life, while others drove thousands of miles to find out their love was a grown man in his parent's basement. But one thing I know, I will never use dating apps ever again.    

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