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Got dates lined up around the block? Well, you just might be one of the millions of Americans using online dating as a way to meet your potential Romeo or Juliet!
Thrilling! Cool! Unpredictable! These are a few words consumers use to describe their experience with online dating. While the online dating industry has currently sucked in 25 million users and over $500 million in revenues, it isn’t just the number of daters and dollars that continue to escalate. Social acceptance of online dating as a practical means to find a life mate (or play mate) is evidenced by the popularity of the recent documentary “Hooking Up” and the 2005 motion picture “Must Love Dogs.” And, it’s not just for kids anymore. Seniors, sports fans and rednecks are all represented with their very own online dating sites. The pervasiveness of niche marketing courting online daters reeks of an industry gone wild! Just so you know we aren’t making all this up, online dating now ranks as the third most popular way to get a date, just behind meeting someone through friends or while slacking at your workplace.
The Internet’s potent allure was examined by Dr. David Greenfield, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut and author of Virtual Addiction, a book about compulsive Internet use. He calls the Internet "a virtual sexual smorgasbord of activity and opportunity. The Internet's power is its weakness," Greenfield said. "You have access to all of this instantaneous stuff, with no oversight. It's cheap, it's anonymous and it's fast. It makes the Internet a potent tool, but it also connects people with things that they shouldn't connect to." Still others argue for some kind of regulation, particularly with regard to sex offenders. “Sexual predators will use any means possible to obtain victims,” said Gregg McCrary, a retired FBI profiler. “More than 90 percent of sex offenders we monitor are getting in these online dating services,” said Grace Davis, lead trainer at IPPC, an Internet and computer monitoring system used by probation, parole and pretrial services.
Have you ever wondered when meeting someone for a first date, whether having met them online or in line at the grocery store, what lurks behind that charming smile and smooth exterior? "Here's a news flash: People lie. And they will say whatever they need to say to sell themselves. They're creating a picture of who they think they are," said Sonja Flaherty, Las Vegas' 2004 Sexiest Person who was raped on a first date and writes about her dating excursions in her relationship column in the Las Vegas Weekly.
The good news is that nearly anything you want to find out about a potential date doesn't have to come from the mouths of their friends and neighbors anymore. A background check can answer the question "So, just what is hiding in your closet?" before you even meet for the first time! Hidden marriages, felony convictions and sex offenses can all be exposed with a quick and easy, yet thorough, background check. And, you are fooling yourself if you think that you can go to your local Department of Motor Vehicles and receive a thorough background check on someone. Yes, they will accept your $10 and give you a public records report. But, the state databases are not up-to-date and a background check run through their system will not garner the most current results for any given individual. It is the thoroughness of conducting a background check that matters, not just getting one. One look at recent headlines speaks volumes about the need to check out potential dates.
After-the-fact background checks have uncovered felony arrests and violent crimes on accused criminals. Some people just don’t have a good handle on their instincts about strangers, or people in general, and may not be the best judge of character.
Background checks shouldn’t take the fun out of dating. This is a service that you can use to take an extra step toward personal safety and it is quick, non-threatening, and affordable. So, what are you waiting for? Go check out the hotties …. just be sure to check out more than their looks!
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www.safedate.com
Jeff Collins created SafeDate when he noticed the need for a consumer-based protection service surrounding social dating.
For a complete bio, click here.
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Interesting.
- Sonja Flaherty