Today Contributor Compares Online Dating Services to Lottery

(Online Dating Industry Journal) It's no secret that Today contributor Gail Saltz isn't a big fan of online dating. In her question and answer column, she compares online dating services to the lottery, saying that online dating services sell "dreams". The subtitle of the column is, "Dr. Gail Saltz cautions that meeting romantic partners online is too risky."

In a recent Q&A column, Gail Saltz, who is also author of the book Anatomy of a Secret Life, published a letter from a person who had been scammed out of their life savings from someone they communicated with on an online dating site.  In part, she says:

"...I do think that many advice-givers offer warnings and safety tips, but they are often drowned out by gushy stories of people finding their 'soul mates' and being struck by 'love at first sight.' These success stories make the news because they are so unusual.

Remember: Online dating services are companies selling a product. In some ways, they are like the lottery selling a dream. They promote their successes and not their failures..."

She properly warns people looking for love online to be extra cautious and it's advice that all online daters should heed. However, she fails to put the story into perspective of the success people have had with online dating which is why it continues to be the preferred medium for people to find a date.

Joe's Comments
Overall, it was a good answer by Gail Saltz, however she makes it sound like the news only talks about success stories when it comes to online dating. At Online Dating Magazine, we've found the opposite to be true. The news media focuses most of its time on scams, fraud, crime, etc. related to online dating versus the hundreds of thousands of people who have found their soulmate online.

Comments

[Sebastyne]

I completely agree on the way media handles the success of online dating. Why would it shock us to hear that someone found a date on a dating site? That's not news! What is news is when someone gets "robbed out of her life savings" due to an online romance. I have friends, like most of us do, and as far as I know, ONE of them has met their partner offline. Whether people meet on online dating site or just generally online is a different matter, but internet brings people together, no doubt about it. I for one married my online date.