Dangers of Online Dating

Coucha, D., Liamputtonga, P., & Pitts, M. (2012). What are the real and perceived risks and dangers of online dating? Perspectives from online daters. Health, Risk & Society, 14(7–8), 697–714.

Online dating has become very common today due to the advancements in communication technologies. In this article, Danielle Coucha, Pranee Liamputtonga and Marian Pitts investigated the risks associated with online dating. In particular, the researchers investigated the potential dangers that online daters are exposed to when dating over the internet. The researchers conducted the study between 2008 and 2009 by interviewing 29 participants aged between the age group of 18 and 70 years, twelve of whom were women and seventeen being men. The researchers found that all the participants were of the view that online dating is risky in many ways. Some believe that online dating is full of lies, deceit, sexual and physical risks, as well as emotional risks. Additionally, the majority of the participants believed that online dating exposes daters to the risk of meeting dangerous and untrustworthy individuals. Accordingly, the researchers concluded that online dating is risky and should be entered into carefully to minimize the risks.

This article is credible and suitable for use in conducting research because it is written by experts in the field of public health. The three authors, Danielle Coucha, Pranee Liamputtonga and Marian Pitts, are research fellows at the School if Public Health at La Trobe University and Australia Research Center in Health, Sex, and Society. Additionally, the article is credible since it is cited and reviewed before publication.

This article is suitable for the study because it explores the risks associated with online dating.