Anonymous dating has its benefits, including the ability to screen out undesirable matches without having to interact with them in real life, the opportunity to meet a wider pool of available individuals, and avoidance of social pressure from family and friends with whom dating service matches have a mutual acquaintance. On the other hand, anonymous dating has some well-established pitfalls, including issues of dating safety, misrepresentation, and fraud. For individuals who are interested in anonymous dating, setting up strong boundaries and establishing certain ground rules before going on a date may be the best way to effectively take advantage of this type of matchmaking.
For many people, anonymous dating offers them the ability to evaluate a potential partner both discreetly and at a distance. If using an online dating site, for example, an individual can review a photograph and detailed information about a person to make a decision as to whether this person might be a decent match. This sort of detached evaluation typically cannot happen when individuals are set up on a blind date or happen to meet each other in a bar or a social situation.
The flip side of this detachment is that it can be easy for someone to conceal information about himself or even invent an entirely new persona in the context of anonymous dating. As the individuals don't have the ability to read each other's body language, it is difficult to detect when a person is lying. In addition, if participants in an online dating service delay meeting in person, it also becomes difficult to detect inconsistencies by observing an individual's way of living, friends, and interactions with others. In worst-case scenarios, participants in these dating services may be concealing criminal backgrounds or the fact that they are already married or living with someone else.
One reason why many people consider anonymous dating is that dating services can bring someone into contact with a much larger group of people than they might otherwise encounter through their normal social and professional lives. In some cases, dating services may even attract people from long distances, which can increase an individual's ability to find a match. Once again, however, the fact that potential partners are detached from an individual's social circle can present challenges, particularly because neither party can verify the character of the other through mutual acquaintances. In addition, it may be difficult to integrate a new partner who is a complete outsider to someone's current social circle.
