A hefty price point doesn’t guarantee the absence of fakes or catfishes, either. (Before the Tinder Swindler hype, in 2019, some guy on match posed as a millionaire and stole $80,000 from the woman he was talking to. In 2020, money lost to online “romance scams” hit a record high.) For what it’s worth however, many free sites are just as big as paid ones on privacy and safety, requiring users to verify themselves through Facebook to increase transparency about age and first names. Plus, no paid sites have the safety features that Tinder does, which was the first of the Match Group apps to offer 911 assistance and location services to make meeting a stranger safer.

The aesthetic experience certainly isn’t what your money is going toward, either. Continue reading “Can you actually fall in love with someone online?” →