Today, a very interesting situation is developing with dating sites and applications. On one hand, they increase in number every year. Today there are more than eight thousand of them in the world. Yet on the other hand, people still prefer not to advertise that they use such services because of outdated stereotypes and prejudices.

People often hide their presence on dating sites, or they hide those they meet there. This phenomenon even has a name — “stashing”.

Stashing is hiding your partner — when a person deliberately hides their soulmate from friends, relatives and acquaintances.

One of the reasons for this behavior is embarrassment due to the fact that the friendship started on a dating site.

Why people prefer not to talk about dating online

The reasons can be very varied — from quite reasonable to completely illogical. But if we were to highlight the most frequent, we can name four main ones:

• People are afraid of gossip and talking behind their backs due to the fact that stereotypes about dating sites still persist in society.
• Many sincerely want romance and some kind of zest in their relationship. They do not want to admit that they met on a regular dating site, so try to come up with some incredible story “not like everyone else.”
• Men don’t want to be seen as shy. After all, there is still an imposed stereotype that dating on sites is the choice of only shy and insecure people. This, of course, is nonsense. But we will talk about stereotypes a little later.
• Girls believe that they can be considered cheap if someone finds out that they use dating sites and communicate with strangers from the Internet. Another imposed stereotype that has nothing to do with reality.

These reasons are already enough for many to hide their presence on the dating sites and the people they meet there. And this is absolutely wrong.

The top 5 stereotypes about dating sites and apps and how to erase them

• Stereotype 1: Profiles of users on dating sites cannot be trusted

Yes, there are fakes and scammers, but far fewer than many people think. In addition, an active Internet user who knows the basic safety rules of the web will easily spot when accounts are fake.

• Stereotype 2: In texting, people behave differently than in real life.

This is also true. Communication in chat gives people more time to think about their answer, and saves people from accidentally speaking rash phrases and the like.

In fact, by choosing their words carefully, your chat partner is simply trying to give you a good impression. Is that bad? No, not unless they use outright deceit in order to derive some personal benefit from this.

• Stereotype 3: Dating site users are just looking for sex and random encounters

We do not deny that there are users of dating sites who do not have serious intentions. Some just want to flirt, some are thinking about an affair on the side, and some just wants sex without obligations.

But there are plenty of more serious people on dating sites, actually even more than trivial users. Believe us, you can easily recognize the true goals of a person by talking with them at least for a while.

• Stereotype 4: Men can use dating sites, but for women it’s shameful

This is nonsense. Men and women are completely equal, including on dating sites. But precisely because of this stereotype, on most dating sites there are many more men than women. This creates additional difficulties in finding your soulmate. Dating on dating services should be completely normal for any gender.

• Stereotype 5: There are only perverts on dating sites

Sheer nonsense! Nowadays any normal dating site has complex moderation and artificial intelligence algorithms that analyze user actions and, in case of violation of the rules for using the site, immediately block their accounts.

Using dating services freely and without hesitation

There is another important nuance that prevents many people from freely using dating services. This is their ubiquity. Tinder, Badoo, Bumble, Match — all of these services are already so well-known that many perceive their use as a sign of a person lacking their own opinion. Nobody wants to admit that they are the same as everyone else. Everyone strives to demonstrate their own exclusivity. And this is quite possible.

To get started, we recommend that you take a closer look at the more niche dating services:

• Seeking — a dating site for successful and wealthy people, stars and simply famous people. Seeking has over 40 million users in 130 countries. An excellent choice for meeting people from the “big leagues”.
• Ashley Madison — a very atypical dating site. It is designed for people who are already married or in a permanent relationship, but want to start a new romance. How ethical this is, is not for us to decide. But paying attention to Ashley Madison is still worth it.
• Zoosk — a dating app with a video chat feature, detailed user profiles, virtual gifts, matchmaking based on compatibility, Zoosk Live streaming and many other useful features.
• Passion — a dating service for unselfconscious and daring people who know exactly what they want. Perhaps you won’t build a serious relationship here. But you can definitely find a partner for intimacy.
• RSVP — according to the developers, the most reliable dating site in Australia. RSVP is positioned as a platform for serious dating. The audience here is really serious and ready for a relationship. The only disadvantage is that the service is focused mainly on Australian residents.

If you fundamentally do not want to use classic dating sites and applications, you can go the alternative way — get acquainted and communicate in online video chat. This video chat is completely different from a classic dating app — it connects you with random people, allowing you to communicate via video on almost any topic. This is often more convenient and faster than using a dating app.

For our part, we can recommend the following video chats: Bazoocam, Azar, https://coomeet.chat and Omegle. They have proven themselves well, have a large audience around the world, and most importantly, they will help you move away from the classic online dating format.

Online dating is a positive thing

We assume that modern society still needs time to finally accept the online dating format as a phenomenon. The situation now is already much better than 5-10 years ago. In developed countries, 70-80% of people believe that there is nothing shameful in dating using dating sites and apps. Many people are happy to publicly call it a very positive phenomenon.

Of course, there will always be ardent opponents of online dating, who believe that true love can only be found offline. We don’t belong to this group and don’t advise you to join them. The internet opens up tremendous opportunities for us to communicate and explore the world. So why not take full advantage of them?