Does Online Dating Work? How Do You Know If The Person Is Real?

Online relationships are becoming more common as social media continues to progress. Social media allows people to connect with other users across the world. Getting to know someone who lives in your area or across the country has become easier because they are only a message away. Here I will explain the why online dating works for some and the risks of online dating. I will also share personal experiences that i've had with online dating.

Online dating isn't for everybody, but It can be for you

Online dating has helped many people find there significant other, but online dating comes with let downs and risks you should be aware of.

My Online Dating Experience 

Here is my story on how I met my girlfriend over social media

I met my girlfriend on Instagram; the crazy part is I don't even remember how I found her profile. We followed each other and she liked my tbh post, so I gave her one. I called her pretty and she replied that I was cute. She asked me for my name and I replied "Anthony but you can call me bae". I sent a text right after saying that I was just joking and she laughed.

I asked her where she was from? and she replied "California" and in my mind, I was thinking "its over". I lived all the way on the east coast and I didn't want a long-distance relationship, so I thought that our first conversation was going to be our last... but it wasn't. We talked every day for about six months; until finally, she talked me into facing my fear: flying on a plane. We would meet in New York; she came with her mother to look at colleges and I was also looking into schools to transfer to in New York.

I was going to pass out when the plane took off and what made it even worse was the turbulence. I was about to start screaming until I saw everyone calm, there was even a little boy next to me playing a game. In my mind, I was saying "look at him playing his video game acting like this plane didn't try to kill us." We met up and it felt unreal like it was all a dream. Even though we were best friends I thought to myself "I flew on a plane for this girl I'm not going home without a kiss". We ended up having our first kiss and after that we were a couple.

It was a good long distance relationship; we saw each other a lot, I even took a flight to California for the first time. Nobody told me it was actually six hours... and what I mean by that is driving six hours is nothing: you see a lot, stop for gas, listen to music, and etc. But flying was so different, do you know how many times I woke up at 6:30 pm? I took a nap at 6:30 pm and woke up at 6:32 pm, then I took another nap and woke up at 6:38 pm. I'm like "there's no way I had a whole dream and it's only 6:38 pm."

Be careful when dating online watch out for scams

Here is the story about my friend who almost got scammed dating online.

We chose to go to the same college and we have had an apartment for two years now. Everyone's story of online dating doesn't have a happy ending. Let's dive into how online dating can go wrong. My friend and I work in the same department at a store and he started using an app for dating. He just got out of a two-year relationship and wanted to "get back in the field". He met this guy on the app who claimed to be in the army, he didn't tell me that they were talking for about two weeks.

I asked my friend "have you guys video-chatted?" and my friend said, "No, because he is stationed in Ukraine." I immediately said "Catfish". I have a lot of family in the military, so I thought that it was suspicious that he couldn't video chat. He showed me a bunch of pictures of the guy and I told him to tell the guy to send a video of him showing his face saying my friend's name. He wouldn't do it but, my friend wanted to believe that he was real.

My girlfriend and I were coming back from Kentucky because our school's  thanksgiving break was over. It was a fourteen-hour ride and we were tired of listening to music so we put on scammer videos on Youtube titled "Exposing Nigerian Online Love Scammers." The video talked about how these Nigerian scammers would use soldier's military pictures to gain the trust of their victims. Since most military personnel are stationed, the scammers would make excuses on why their victims couldn't come visit them.

They would call their victims instead of video chatting and ask them for their money, social security number, bank information, and more. When I saw this I immediately knew my friend was getting scammed. Two days later at work, I asked my friend has the guy ever asked him for money. My friend lied at first and said no. Then asked me why I asked. I explained the scam to him and showed him the video.

My friend then told me that the guy asked him for two hundred dollars and asked him for his social security number. Luckily, my friend didn't give him any information because his mom told him not to. My friend got suspicious of the guy because earlier that morning my friend asked the guy to send him a picture of himself and when he sent the photos my friend noticed that he had previously sent those same photos before.

The guy also asked my friend to open a credit card with the maximum credit amount; and told him to ask his friends for money. My friend reported the account and blocked the guy on everything. He also made a police report because he was scared that the guy would try to come for him.

Conclusion

Online dating can turn out positive, but you always have to take precautions when talking to someone online. Never give out any personal information like bank information, social security number, and address. Never give someone money you just met and make sure you video chat the person.

If someone always makes excuses on why they cannot video chat... "Catfish". And if you decide to meet up with someone either bring a friend along or meet the person in a public area. Hopefully, my story can help someone whether it be finding out if someone is a scammer or giving reassurance that online dating does work.