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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the level of safety that online dating forums provide for their community. More specifically, focusing the online environment that is attractive for people seeking relationships and malicious users. This paper will argue that the online dating world is the perfect environment of false identities given the level of security that is required to set up an account. This level of security and easy access provides an open cyber space for people to hide their identity with minimal effort. Thus, scammers and ‘catfish’ have become increasingly aware of this, take advantage of people particularly older women. It is prominent that online dating forums are not safe spaces for finding love, but is it better than the real world?
The world of online dating can be exciting and diverse, catering for all genders and sexualities. It provides communities with ability to find a potential partner without the having to experience the horrors of judgement and rejection in a public setting. Online dating acts as a tool for its users to almost streamline the selection process for determining who would be a suitable match for you (Wiederhold, 2021). Unlike the traditional method of dating, online dating is a personalized experience connecting people who have shared a mutual interest in each other. And this is commonly determined based on one’s first impression of a user’s profile which becomes their online identity.
In the context of online dating platforms, your online identity is intended to attract potential romantic partners based on a quick glance (Ellison, Handcock & Toma, 2011). A user’s profile is generally made up of photos which think you look the best and a description often made up of personal info and interests. However, these platforms require little to no security to ensure that information that is used in creating a profile is correct. This provides users with an online platform that has the flexibility to foster a level of anonymity through false identification which is attractive to both is users and malicious individuals (Rege, 2009). Despite this, the online dating user base continues to grow as identity reconstruction take advantage of the open cyber space.
This conference paper will examine the online dating world, focusing on a major issue of false identity and the power it has over vulnerable online dating members. It will question whether the online dating world creates the perfect platform for identity reconstruction.
Joining the online dating world is easy and practically accessible to anyone, anywhere. All that is required is a few key bits of information about yourself, most importantly your name, age and probably where you are from. All of which would be used to direct you in the right direction to find what you are looking for in a person. Additionally, you will also be required to verify you account usually through an email or phone number to activate your new profile and online dating identity. Unfortunately, not all users are honestly online and are able to create accounts based on newly created emails with the ability to make a new email address in less than five (5) minutes. This low security and open access pathway to an online community, only creates greater attraction for fake accounts to be created on daily basis. For example, the creation of a Tinder account only requires a phone number to verify if the account is real. In this case, it is assumed that a phone number will provide better security than an email however, it is just as easy to purchase a two (2) dollar sim card to create a whole number phone number ready to use and discard once the account is aviated.
As an online dater, creating an appealing but self-presentational profile is crucial to attracting potential connections on these platforms (Ellison, Handcock & Toma, 2011). A user’s online profile is the first thing people see when swiping through, with people often trying to create profiles that are a reconstructed version of themselves, just to manifest some kind of interest toward their profile (Coluccia et al, 2020). This creates the perfect opportunity to enhance their online identity through photo editing, untrue descriptions of themselves, lying about their career and fake photos which have been taken off another account or through google.
Online dating communities are made up of people who are looking for a love interest and can be very determined to find one. Most of these people have an open heart and are willing to give people a chance. However, not all people on these platforms are who they say they are. A ‘catfish’ is a frequently used term in the online dating world which is used to describe a user using a ‘false profile on social networks for fraudulent or deceptive purposes’ (Simmons & Lee, 2020). It can often be seen as people who seem too good to be true, people who only have one (1) or two (2) photos and in some cases, it can be really obvious through methods such as directly asking for money in their profile description. ‘Catfishing’ is a common crime within online communities as it is hard to mitigate without impacting the use of those using online dating for the right reasons (Yen & Jakobsson, 2016). For example, the request for further information such as a license number to enhance user security may act as a deterrent for all users who may not want to share such personal information online. So, does that pose the question of, is there any that can be enforced that won’t impact the user base of the online dating platform?
For some people the creation of a fake account can be totally innocent, through people who may not want their personal information available on the internet. It is commonly known that once you put someone thing on the internet, it is always there. This can be quiet daunting for people, particularly elderly people who are rather new to the concept of internet. When online dating, its difficult to trade off whether you would rather want someone to talk to you or to maintain your personal privacy online (Steinfeld, 2015). There is no in between, in order to connect with someone, there needs to be a level of trust from the opposite side to trust an account with no personal information is even a real person, which is highly unlikely. For example, online dating apps such as Bumble allow users to display their initials instead of their whole names, to provide their users with a sense of privacy in the online world (O’Flaherty, 2022). However, photos that you post can still be easily tracked through Google’s reverse image search function.
The purpose of a ‘catfish’ account is traditionally used for ‘fraudulent or deceptive purposes’ as defined by Simmons & Lee (2020) and continues to used today. Romance scams are one of the most common crimes committed within online dating forums with aims of gaining the trust of real users for personal gains. These criminals generate believable identities which can be deceived as someone that can foster a romantic and long-term relationship (Whitty & Buchanan, 2012). Scammers may also propose plans of commitment through marriage or travel, however to achieve this the scammer will request money to fulfill this goal. Alternatively, people may persuade online dating users to invest in projects and more recently crypto currency. All of which make use of their online identity to prey on the vulnerable dating community. Adekunle Adeledji, former romance scammer and catfish explains that people who do this are extremely discrete and have studied how people react to certain actions (McPherson, 2023). Thus, allowing them to perfect how they approach user on the online dating forum, using specific response times, humorous personality and never ending compliments. Studies have revealed that, ‘catfishing’ scammers have largely been targeted at older women aged between 40 and 60 (McPherson, 2023). They are seen as targets due to their vulnerability and their sense of loneliness particularly if they are divorced (Sorell & Whitty, 2019). Once scammers, know their name and what they look like, it can be easy to track down their profile on other social media platforms to find out more about the person in order to better connect with them and gain their trust online. It was found those aged above 60 tended to be the one who are scammed the most and have been more likely to given up money for someone they feel bad for.
To reiterate, online dating platforms are simple and easy to user providing an attractive forum for people of all ages to access as well as those with malicious intent. These platforms require little to no security towards who can create a profile and what information they upload. Thus, meaning any users who has verified their account can publicize any images that is considered attractive in order to convince people to want to connect. The online dating scene can be used for various reason with dating being the obvious purpose, however there are many fake accounts which lurk within the online dating community. It difficult to determine who is a real person looking for love and who is pretending to be someone that they’re not. Thus, allowing the online dating community the perfect forum for a false identity.
REFERENCES
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Hi L, The thing is the paper is mainly concentrated on the African continent particularly.If you make an analysis of…