The popularity of mature online dating, and online dating in general, has skyrocketed over the last decade. Off the back of a sea change in the way we perceive those who seek love online, more and more of us have turned to websites like ours in order to meet that special somebody.
Over the years, we’ve helped to bring together countless couples, facilitated unknown numbers of dates and brought the hope of love back to every single person who’ve signed up for our website. Those are things we’ve immensely proud of, but we want every mature singleton to try out free service.
We’ve spoken to a lot of prospective customers, and the issue we bump up against time and time again is that online dating is seen as being ‘unsafe’. So, is it?
Online dating: A public menace?
The common narrative surrounding ‘dangerous’ online dating comes from the very earliest days of online dating.
Back then, the Internet was something entirely new. It had promise, of course, but the way you accessed it, the equipment you needed and the skills required meant that it was primarily used by businesses and very technology focused people. Meanwhile, the mainstream media stood at one side, poking and prodding at it, trying to generate column inches about this hot new subject.
Needless to say, when Internet dating came around, it raised a few eyebrows. What kind of loner would use a service like that? How could you trust anybody if you couldn’t see their face? Wasn’t it going to be dangerous?
Though years of improving internet access and millions of relationships made through online dating websites gently eroded at most of those perceptions, the idea that online dating is dangerous has hung around.
So, is it actually dangerous?
The answer, of course, is no. The vast, vast majority of those using online dating websites are there for the same reasons as you – to find love and companionship.
Of course, there are always a few which seek to take advantage of sincerity, but that’s true of anything in life – even traditional dating. Online dating has suffered by an outsized amount of coverage of these isolated incidents, thanks to it being a relatively new and, for a while at least, untested way of meeting romantic interests.
How can you stay safe online?
As with any form of dating, there are ways to mitigate the chances of getting hurt by unscrupulous individuals.
Here at Maturity Dating you can rest assured that we do more than most to protect our users with each profile being hand checked for harassment and a comprehensive range of reporting tools so you can stop harassment before it begins, but here are a few tips to protect yourself online:
- Choose an anonymous username. Staying anonymous (to a degree) on your profile means that if you’re no longer comfortable in your conversation, you can leave it safely.
- Stop communicating straight away if you feel like you’re being pressured or tricked into providing your personal or financial information. It’s always better to be rude than risk getting caught by a scammer.
- If you’re planning to meet in person, always make sure you do so in a public location and with a friend or family member aware of where you are. It’s good practice with traditional dating, and you should observe it online too.
With those three tips observed, you’ll have a fun, safe and rewarding time with Maturity Dating. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for free today!