(Online Dating Industry Journal Commentary) Over the past several months, I've seen several examples of the media misrepresenting online dating and online dating services, grouping the medium in with hookup sites and chatrooms. This does a great disservice to real online dating services. Here are a couple of examples:
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
On Friday, February 22, The Plain Dealer published an article with the title: "Mentor Man Shot by Woman He Met Through Online Dating Service". The article talks about how a man met a woman the previous night from an online dating service, but was shot from the woman he met who wanted $300 from him. Not only did The Plain Dealer not name the online dating service, but they also added the following sentence: "Police have not yet determined what chat room he met her on or why she demanded the cash."
So which was it - a chatroom or an online dating service? Or was it a hookup service or escort service? It sounds like the man didn't meet the woman for a "date" from a conventional online dating service and if that is the case, then spreading the rumor of a man being shot from a woman he met via an online dating service is a disservice to the public and to online dating services. When I taught high school journalism, my students learned the importance of double checking facts and clearing up any misinformation before publishing an article. That seems to be missing from a lot of articles these days.
10 News (San Diego)
Our next example comes from 10 News in San Diego which put out the headline "Man Claims He was Victim of Online Dating Predator". The article goes on to tell how a man met another man on a popular gay hookup site and became a victim of check theft.
Once again, this is an example of the media lumping sexual hookup sites with online dating services. There is a major difference. Online Dating Services are aimed at helping people find love and relationships. Sexual hookup sites are where people go to find sex, not potential marriage partners.
Conclusion
These examples are part of a growing trend that makes legitimate online dating services sound like dangerous backstreet alleys. It's important that the media be reminded that there is a difference between social networking sites, online dating services, relationship services, escort services, hookup Websites, Russian Bride services, and chatrooms. By lumping all into "online dating", the media is flagrantly misrepresenting the medium.
Joe Tracy, Editor
Online Dating Industry Journal
Publisher, Online Dating Magazine
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