In class we talked about the overall category of online dating. We talked about what the differences of online dating and face to face dating, the ideal type of online profile that people look for, and we even talked about the deceptions that occur during online dating.

The first thing that we touched on was who there are extreme differences in online dating verses face to face, and how the longer a relationship continues online the lower the chance of it growing and prospering in the future. The reason for this is because we (as humans) tend to have a growing perception of the person on the other end of the keyboard, and as the relationship continues online, this perception grows into something that simply can't be met when the two people finely actually meet.

We then learned about a study that was made out of Iowa that found what people want to see when they look at someone else's profile. What was found was that people want to see "warranted" information, meaning that they want to see information that they can easily look up to see the validity of it. People also want to see a low "Selective Self-Presentation." An example of a high selective self-presentation, is when guys post pictures on their profile of them without their shirts on.  What was found was that people don't like to see a profile of someone that looks to perfect, and that people want real details.
In one of our labs we were directed to go on OkCupid and created a profile. After creating a profile, it became very clear that this study done in Iowa is very accurate.  I found myself instantly getting turned off of the profiles of people that clearly were trying to ego-bust themselves, and I was drawn to profiles of people who seemed genuine and real.  This lab is a great example of what we were learning in the lectures because it went hand in hand with one of the key points we talked about, in that while online dating is easier for some because it is less invasive, it does not mean you shouldn't be yourself and that in fact you will be more successful with being honest.

This point leads into one of the last things we talked about and that is the deception that comes along with online dating.  While it is clear that most users find deception as the biggest disadvantage of online dating, it is also found that most users partake in deception.We talked about how it is very common, however this does not mean that the deception is large and is actually very small. This means that the lies people post on their profiles aren't lies that dramatically alter who they are, in that "cat fishing" is not a common form of deception. It was found that the main forms of deception were about a users age, weight, and height. It was briefly touched on that both men and women partake in these forms of online deception, but a study that took 80 online daters from 4 popular dating sites found that women are a bit more deceptive when it comes to their pictures by using angles and filters.