Abstract:
The paper primarily explores the risks and harms with the avent of online dating. It brings forth the diverse challenges that individuals face. Even though the risks that men, women and lqbtq face do sometimes overlap, they are still vastly different from each other. The paper highlights on how these risks vary from fake profiles, catphishing, scams, etc to cyberbullying, cyber harassment, stalking, revenge porn, etc. Through an in depth analysis of both primary data and secondary data, the paper uncovers various patterns and themes emerging ranging from inlcusitivity to discrimination to power imbalance to biases. Different case studies of individuals who had gone through some of these risks are included to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding. These narratives give a broader understanding of the real-world implications of these risks. The paper also analyzes key patterns in how users navigate these risks and prioritise safety either through platform features or even complete disengagement in some cases from the dating apps, it also highlights the factors which influence such behaviors such as sex, sexual orientation, race, etc. The study thereby aims to understand the interplay of various dynamics when it comes to what kind of harms can be caused to which type of groups in the era of online dating. Thereby also emphasizing the urgent need for a safe online dating space that account for diversity and equality by minimizing the risks.
