Editing Online dating (section)

=== Trust and safety issues ===
{{See also|Sexually transmitted infection|Date rape|Procuring (prostitution)}}

As online dating services are not required to routinely conduct [[background check]]s on members, it is possible for profile information to be misrepresented or falsified.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/2/20991656/match-group-dating-apps-identity-tinder-hinge-background-check|title=Would background checks make dating apps safer?|first=Ashley|last=Carman|date=December 2, 2019|website=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/okcupid-is-now-making-you-use-your-real-name-but-these-dating-sites-still-let-you-be-anonymous-7678391|title=OkCupid Is Now Making You Use Your Real Name — But These Dating Sites Still Let You Be Anonymous|date=December 22, 2017|website=Bustle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23117392|title=Background checks split online dating industry|date=February 12, 2008|website=NBC News}}</ref> Also, there may be users on dating services that have illicit intentions (i.e. date rape, [[Procuring (prostitution)|procurement]], etc.).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-25/sexual-predators-using-tinder-as-dating-apps-rape-rates-rise/10406654|title='He had me trapped': Sexual predators using dating apps to target victims|newspaper=ABC News |date=October 24, 2018|via=www.abc.net.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.insideindonesia.org/archive/articles/online-dating-apps-blocked|title=Online dating apps blocked - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia|website=www.insideindonesia.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wxyz.com/news/the-apps-predators-are-using-and-what-parents-should-know|title = The apps human trafficking predators use and what parents should know|date = January 21, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phan |first1=Anh |last2=Seigfried-Spellar |first2=Kathryn |last3=Choo |first3=Kim-Kwang Raymond |title=Threaten me softly: A review of potential dating app risks |journal=[[Computers in Human Behavior Reports]] |date=2021 |volume=3 |pages=100055 |doi=10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100055 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[OkCupid|OKCupid]] once introduced a real name policy, but that was later taken removed due to unpopularity with its users.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2017/12/23/okcupid-backtracks-on-its-real-names-only-policy-for-users/|title=OKCupid Backtracks on Its New 'Real Name' Policy &#124; Fortune|date=May 29, 2018|access-date=September 1, 2020|archive-date=May 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529093928/https://fortune.com/2017/12/23/okcupid-backtracks-on-its-real-names-only-policy-for-users/|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

Only some online dating services are providing important safety information such as STD status of its users<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/10/dating-apps-stds-080159|title=How some — but not all — dating apps are taking on the STD epidemic|date=December 10, 2019|website=Politico}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04349748|title=CTG Labs - NCBI|website=clinicaltrials.gov|date=May 25, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medcitynews.com/2016/01/tinder-healthvana-std/|title=Tinder adds link to Healthvana for STD testing services|first=Neil|last=Versel|date=January 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/985207/app-for-finding-out-std-status/|title=Apps for safe bumping|first=Christina|last=Caldwell|date=April 3, 2013}}</ref> or other infectious diseases, but many do not.

Some online dating services which are popular amongst members of [[LGBT community|queer communities]] are sometimes used by people as a means of meeting these audiences for the purpose of [[gaybashing]] or [[trans bashing]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/grindr-teenager-ben-bamford-sentenced-knife-murder-a7433656.html|title=A teenager is being sentenced after murdering a civil servant he met on Grindr|date=November 23, 2016|website=The Independent}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gay man killed, another critically injured in Grindr meetup |website=[[NBC News]] |date=July 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602230832/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gay-man-killed-another-critically-injured-grindr-meetup-n1029881 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gay-man-killed-another-critically-injured-grindr-meetup-n1029881}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35131546|title=Grindr users targeted by armed gang, say police|work=BBC News |date=December 18, 2015}}</ref>

A form of misrepresentation is that members may lie about their height, weight, age, or marital status in an attempt to market or brand themselves in a particular way.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140316230919-1288829-when-personal-branding-get-too-personal|title=When personal branding get too personal! Online dating and your brand.|date=March 16, 2014|publisher=Linkedin|last1=Jones|first1=Cher}}</ref> Users may also carefully manipulate profiles as a form of [[impression management]].<ref name="Couch 2008">{{cite journal|last=Couch|first=Danielle|year=2008|title=Online Dating and Mating: The Use of the Internet to Meet Sexual Partners|journal=Qualitative Health Research|volume=18|issue=2|pages=268–79|author2=Pranee Liamputtong|doi=10.1177/1049732307312832|pmid=18216345|s2cid=20787876}}</ref> Online daters have raised concerns about [[ghosting (relationships)|ghosting]], the practice of ceasing all communication with a person without explaining why. Ghosting appears to be becoming more common.<ref>{{Cite web|title = I Asked Men Why They Ghosted Me {{!}} VICE|url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-asked-men-why-they-ghosted-me-511/|website = VICE|access-date = 2016-02-03|language = en-us|date = 2015-11-10}}</ref> Various explanations have been suggested, but social media is often blamed,<ref>{{Cite journal|title = PsycNET - DOI Landing page|journal = Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice|volume = 8|issue = 4|pages = 291–301|doi = 10.1037/1089-2699.8.4.291|year = 2004|last1 = Smith|first1 = Anita|last2 = Williams|first2 = Kipling D.|citeseerx = 10.1.1.463.6556|url = http://www.psychology.stonybrook.edu/sbrennan-/psy384/papers/ostracis.pdf}}</ref> as are dating apps and the relative anonymity and isolation in modern-day dating and hookup culture, which make it easier to behave poorly with few social repercussions.<ref>{{Cite web|title = And Then I Never Heard From Him Again: The Awful Rise of Ghosting|url = http://www.thedatereport.com/dating/advice/and-then-i-never-heard-from-him-again-the-awful-rise-of-ghosting/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140820064044/http://www.thedatereport.com/dating/advice/and-then-i-never-heard-from-him-again-the-awful-rise-of-ghosting/|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2014-08-20|website = The Date Report (archived through The Internet Archive)|access-date = 2016-02-03}}</ref>

Online dating site members may try to balance an accurate representation with maintaining their image in a desirable way.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ellison|first=Nicole|year=2006|title=Managing impressions online: Self-presentation processes in the online dating environment|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|volume=11|issue=2|pages=415–441|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00020.x|author2=Rebecca Heino|author3=Jennifer Gibbs|doi-access=free}}</ref> One study found that nine out of ten participants had lied on at least one attribute, though lies were often slight; weight was the most lied about attribute, and age was the least lied about.<ref name="Hancock 2007">{{cite journal |last=Hancock |first=Jeffrey |last2=Toma |first2=Catalina |last3=Ellison |first3=Nicole |year=2007 |title=The truth about lying in online dating profiles |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221515634_The_truth_about_lying_in_online_dating_profiles |journal=Association for Computing Machinery |doi=10.1145/1240624.1240697}}</ref> Furthermore, knowing a large amount of superficial information about a potential partner's interests may lead to a false sense of security when meeting up with a new person.<ref name="Williams">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html?pagewanted=all|title=The End of Courtship|last=Williams|first=Alex|date=2013-01-11|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Gross misrepresentation may be less likely on [[matrimonial website|matrimonials sites]] than on casual dating sites.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Madden |first1=Mary |last2=Lenhart |first2=Amanda |date=2006-03-05 |title=Online Dating |url=http://www.pewinternet.org/2006/03/05/online-dating/ |access-date=2017-04-01 |website=Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech}}</ref>

Some profiles may not even represent real humans but rather they may be fake "bait profiles" placed online by site owners to attract new paying members, or "spam profiles" created by advertisers to market services and products.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/09/ashley-madisons-terms-and-conditions-told-users-it-ran-fake-accounts | title=Ashley Madison's terms and conditions told users it ran fake accounts &#124; Ashley Madison &#124; the Guardian }}</ref>

Opinions on regarding the safety of online dating are mixed. Over 50% of research participants in a 2011 study did not view online dating as a dangerous activity, whereas 43% thought that online dating involved risk.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Couch | first1 = Danielle | last2 = Liamputtong | first2 = Pranee | last3 = Pitts | first3 = Marian | year = 2011 | title = Online Daters and the Use of Technology for Surveillance and Risk Management | journal = International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society | volume = 9 | issue = 2| pages = 116–134 }}</ref> Date rape is a form of [[acquaintance rape]] and [[dating violence]]. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a [[rape]] in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between the two parties.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuersten |first=Ashlyn K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnKGWlZG_ncC |title=Women and the Law: Leaders, Cases, and Documents |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2003 |isbn=978-0874368789 |pages=143–144}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What is rape and date rape? {{!}} girlshealth.gov |url=https://www.girlshealth.gov/safety/saferelationships/daterape.html |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=www.girlshealth.gov}}</ref> Acquaintance rape also includes rapes in which the victim and perpetrator have been in a non-romantic, non-sexual relationship, for example as co-workers or neighbors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dziuba-Leatherman |first=Jennifer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7Jh_LotPtkC |title=Acquaintance and Date Rape: An Annotated Bibliography |publisher=Greenwood |year=1994 |isbn=978-0313291494 |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Horvath |first=Miranda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNI3TKwWv20C |title=Rape: Challenging Contemporary Thinking |publisher=Willan |year=2009 |isbn=978-1843925194 |pages=117}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Belgrave |first=Faye Z. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbuhAQAAQBAJ |title=African American Psychology: From Africa to America |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |isbn=978-1412999540 |pages=501}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parrot |first=Andrea |url=https://archive.org/details/copingwithdatera00parr |title=Coping With Date Rape and Acquaintance Rape |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |year=1998 |isbn=978-0823928613 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/copingwithdatera00parr/page/30 30] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiehe |first=Vernon R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhngpTXwtpMC |title=Intimate Betrayal: Understanding and Responding to the Trauma of Acquaintance Rape |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=1995 |isbn=978-0803973619 |pages=3–4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaminker |first=Laura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMnPD6ji9msC |title=Everything You Need to Know About Dealing With Sexual Assault |publisher=Rosen Pub Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0823933037 |pages=16–18}}</ref> According to the United States [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS), date rapes are among the most common forms of rape cases.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hammond |first1=Elizabeth M. |last2=Berry |first2=Melissa A. |last3=Rodriguez |first3=Dario N. |date=2011-09-01 |title=The influence of rape myth acceptance, sexual attitudes, and belief in a just world on attributions of responsibility in a date rape scenario |journal=Legal and Criminological Psychology |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=242–252 |doi=10.1348/135532510X499887 |issn=2044-8333}}</ref> Date rape most commonly takes place among college students when alcohol is involved or [[date rape drug]]s are taken. One of the most targeted groups are women between the ages of 16 and 24.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loiselle |first1=Marc i |last2=Fuqua |first2=Wayne R. |date=2007-04-01 |title=Alcohol's effects on women's risk detection in a date-rape vignette |journal=[[Journal of American College Health]] |volume=55 |issue=5 |pages=261–266 |citeseerx=10.1.1.494.4194 |doi=10.3200/JACH.55.5.261-266 |issn=0744-8481 |pmid=17396398 |s2cid=22404352}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frintner |first1=Mary Pat |last2=Rubinson |first2=Laurna |date=1993-12-01 |title=Acquaintance Rape: The Influence of Alcohol, Fraternity Membership, and Sports Team Membership |journal=Journal of Sex Education and Therapy |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=272–284 |doi=10.1080/01614576.1993.11074089 |issn=0161-4576}}</ref>

In the October 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 53% of survey respondents said believed that dating apps were a very or somewhat safe way to meet potential partners while 46% believed they were a not too safe or not at all safe way to do so, and 50% online dating respondents said that they believed that [[Catfishing|scam accounts]] were common.<ref name="Pew 2-6-2020" /> In the July 2022 Pew Research Center survey, 49% of survey respondents said believed that dating apps were a not too safe or not at all safe way to meet potential partners while 48% believed they were a very or somewhat safe way to do so, and 52% online dating respondents said that they believed that scam accounts were common.<ref name="Pew 2-2-2023 Press Release" /><ref name="Pew 2-2-2023 Report" />

In response to these issues, over 120 [[Facebook]] groups named ''[[Are We Dating The Same Guy?]]'' were created where women share red flags about men<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-20 |title=Are we dating the same guy? This Facebook group might know. |url=https://mashable.com/article/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=Mashable |language=en}}</ref> and check that he is not dating another person.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-20 |title=Are we dating the same guy? This Facebook group might know. |url=https://mashable.com/article/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615164343/https://mashable.com/article/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook |archive-date=2023-06-15 |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=Mashable |language=en}}</ref> It is done by taking screenshots of a man's dating profile and posting it onto her city's designated Facebook group, asking "any tea?". Other users in the group will then share information about the man and share warnings.<ref name="vice2023">{{Cite web |last=Lavinia |first=Emilie |date=2023-05-26 |title=The Dark Side of 'Are We Dating the Same Guy' Groups |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook-groups/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611071951/https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy375q/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook-groups |archive-date=2023-06-11 |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The Independent-2023">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-12 |title=Inside the secret network of women naming and shaming their bad exes |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-b2428024.html |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=sgbb |url=https://timbaby.net/sgbb/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=HẸN HÒ NHANH CHÓNG - Kết nối Bạn Trai Giàu & Bạn Gái Xinh toàn quốc |language=vi}}</ref> The groups are moderated by volunteers,<ref name="The Independent-2023" /> and have been described as a [[Feminism|feminist]] group.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-11 |title="Are We Sharing Boyfriends?:" Toxic Dating Trend or Modern-Day Feminism? |url=https://hypebae.com/2022/4/tiktok-viral-facebook-group-are-we-sharing-boyfriends-trend |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805011536/https://hypebae.com/2022/4/tiktok-viral-facebook-group-are-we-sharing-boyfriends-trend |archive-date=2023-08-05 |access-date=2023-08-05 |website=Hypebae}}</ref>