I was registered on such a platform for a few months over a decade ago, so my experience with online dating is mostly second-hand from what people who do use it tell me about it.
What I found off-putting was that I had no way of knowing if someone is just there to find an easy hookup and doesn't care much who it is, what person the other one is. And that's basically what I hear now as well. Sure, the women I talk to who do use it have no shortage on matches. But most of them aren't actually registered to find a quick fuck with someone they have no further or deeper interest in.
99% of the guys I ended up chatting with were extremely fast in wanting to go on a date, like they had just swiped and figured "fuckable, sure, let's go". The one guy I talked to for weeks beyond a surface level I actually did agree to meet. And haha, that joke was on me, too.
I showed up and immediately recognized him as an assistant professor at college I had only nodded to in passing (back then you could have pictures on your profile that did not show your face if you didn't want to.) Naturally, in the weeks of online conversations, he kept that little detail to himself.
As easy as getting matches is, I wonder where in these studies is the very justified fear for women that a date with someone you do not know at all goes south fast.
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