Dating 282,000,000
Online dating 59, 200,000
Online dating for safety 830,000
Online dating safety 1,210,000
Online dating safety tips 1,630,000
These are some search terms I ran in google. As you can see, for dating and online dating, we have a very high return of hits. When I added safety and tips to the search, we have far fewer results. With the boom in online or cyber dating, I would think that the amount of hits we would get for the safety aspect would be comparable. Why? Because if a dating website is sincere about bringing a safe and effective product to his/her customers, I would think that all of them would place some emphasis on safety. Ok, maybe the tags aren’t as prevalent as the strait search terms, but still I believe they should be higher, much higher.
This tells me something about the safety aspect of online dating. It’s somewhat weak at this point in time compared to what it could and should be. But, not all is lost my friends! If my math is correct, there are still 3, 670,000 links to choose from in order to get some information about how we can better inform and protect ourselves. This should be plenty.
Unfortunately, I don’t know that many of us actually have read a little bit about online safety, have you?
I have done the amount of research that I feel sufficient for my safety and myself. I have vast experience with meeting online friends from all around the world as well as from my neck of the woods and give my opinion on my website here
I’m not going to list all of the precautions that are recommended from all the sites about online safety here. You can easily do that yourself. I am writing this post as a reminder to all of us to remain vigilant and to not get so excited about meeting someone that we loose our mind and let our guard down. Our number one priority should be safety!
Ok, I lied, here are a couple of links to get the idea.
http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/features/onlinedatingsafetytips.html
http://www.wiredsafety.org/safety/personal_information_safety/online_dating/index.html
For me, the online- to- real time experience has been fantastic and I haven’t met any physco’s, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t in the future as I’m dealing with no faced people online all the time.
So what’s your opinion about online safety? Have you taken the time to find out how to keep yourself safe with not just online dating, but dating in general? Have you found any differences in the safety precautions between online dating and real time dating?
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thanks for sending your readers our way. we also help victims, if cyberdating turns dangerous and they romance turns into cyberstalking.
ReplyDeleteParry Aftab
Exec Director
WiredSafety.org
I think the precautions one takes when dating online should be the same precautions followed when dating offline: Have your first date in a public place, don't leave your drink unattended, don't go home with someone you just met, beware of anyone who tells you a sob story about how they need money, etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteI do think online dating can be somewhat safer than FTF dating if you take some time to get to know someone online and over the phone before meeting. My rationale here is that a serial murderer probably won't spend the time developing a relationship. It could happen, but this doesn't fit a killer's pattern.
Thanks for reminding us about the importance of dating safety, online or otherwise!
You're very welcome Parry! You have quite an outstanding and helpful choice of blogs there :)
ReplyDeleteElsie,
You have very valid points which I agree with. I actually tried to find statistics about that very rationale (Online serial murderers)and how they may or may not operate, but was unsuccessful :(
I'll keep looking though as it is important information which everyone should be aware of!