The body type illusion

Almost every Internet dater will quickly learn that the Internet is

a great way to hide and/or exaggerate ones looks. For example,

not too many people are going to admit to being overweight when

they can simply tick a box on a profile that says ‘Average’.

Body type would have to be one of the most popular things that

people will lie or stretch the truth about. The same can be said about

both guys and girls. For example, a guy might sound really great

with an ‘athletic’ physique, only for you to be confronted with the

reality of a 6-pack beer gut and slouching shoulders.

The rule is to never take anyone’s word for it, keep an open mind,

and don’t try and build up a mental image of them. In reality nine

out of ten times someone won’t look like the person they described

themselves as. It’s not that people intentionally lie; most don’t, it’s

just that they have an image of themselves, and you have a mental

image of them that you have build up from the scant information

available. Combine these two factors and you have the potential for

big disappointment on both sides. Take every physical description

with a proverbial grain of salt.

Don’t read too much into photos either, they can be very

deceptive.

Harassment

While there is no doubt that harassment can happen, it is quite

rare, even more so than in real life. So at the very worst you are no

more likely to be harassed by someone you meet on the Internet

than someone you meet through normal social channels. Even less

so because of all the benefits of anonymity that the Internet can

offer.

Someone harasses you via email or ICQ? No big deal, just add

them to your ‘ignore list’ or at worst get new accounts and your

problem is gone.If you are concerned about this then choose to only give your


phone number and address details to people that you trust.