Kyle Wiebers | Contributing Writer

Whether or not you are one of the estimated 54 million single people in the United States, this article will still have important information for everyone, single or in a relationship.

Online dating has become an increasingly popular concept in today’s culture, especially here in the United States. Of those 54 million single people, 41 million at least have created an account for one of the numerous online dating sites. Meeting people online, dating, or even just friendship has always been an area of caution for myself, considering it is so easy for someone to lie behind a screen.

According to Statistics Brain, men on online dating sites lie most about their age, height, and income, while women who use online dating sites lie most about their weight, physical build, and age. If lying about physical characteristics doesn’t bother you, how about 53% of users on online dating sites admit to dating more than one person at a time? Infidelity doesn’t ruffle your feathers? How about this: 10% of sex offenders say they use online dating to meet people. Crazy right?

My purpose here is not to scare you away from online dating, or to say that people are completely honest in person, but rather to inform you. I think it is important to think about how we use the Internet, websites, and apps that connect us with other people, like Tinder, eHarmony, and even Facebook. It is important to be careful with whom we connect with on these sites. Not to discount the use of online dating though either, 17% of marriages are a result of people who met online.

Unfortunately, these marriages that did meet online tend to last nearly two years shorter than marriages that met offline. Answering hundreds of questions to match you with someone online, or matching your interests with people within a 50-mile radius of you, might seem like an effective way to meet people.

But I think what each of us needs to consider is this: we are on a college campus teeming with people, and if even for a weekend we stopped looking online for that perfect person and stopped swiping left and right and put our phones away, we indeed might find that the person that makes us happiest could be right here on campus with us. But, if that handsome guy or stunning girl happens to match you back on Tinder, just remember, be careful.

Photo courtesy of Justice Gage