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Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

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Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I’ve long wondered is how women react in the real world now that they have all the power on dating apps. Why would they try to find a date in any other way? There were a few articles that came out a few years ago arguing that, no, dating apps were terrible for women because it makes men even more noncommittal with such easy access to dates. My hypothesis was that the women they interviewed for those pieces were…

That's historically the case: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/women-men-dn... The other implication of polygamy is that a lot of men simply didn't have a chance to pass on their genes at all.

I sometimes wonder if a big reason why monogamous marriage exists as a concept in human society is as a strategy for mitigating violent upheaval. By using cultural pressure to force single-partner relationships (at least on the surface), you no longer had a large group of sexually frustrated men with nothing to lose looking around and wondering how to get a piece of what the elite have that they don't.

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#172

If you really want to see something weird (from an American perspective) take a look at "matrimonial" websites such as shaadi.com , and Indian dating apps. The selection criteria for ethnic groups and religions! In the North American melting pot it's crude and racist to put blunt preferences in a dating ad, in India (and Pakistan, and Bangaldesh) apparently it's the norm.

>In the North American melting pot it's crude and racist to put blunt preferences in a dating ad,

Is that really true? I've never heard of the common phrase "swf looking for swm"[1] -- being called out in mainstream circles as racist.

Unlike employment or assigning bus seats in Alabama, the domain of romance was given the latitude for racial preferences without being demonized as "racism".

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q="swf+looking+for+swm"

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really true? I find in my own experience that men want sex more than women is a stereotype of sorts. That women are more selective than men is a distinct observation but I'm not so sure how true that is either and how much of it is merely due to traditional gender roles.

The evidence of a stronger male sex drive is overwhelming. ”The sex drive refers to the strength of sexual motivation. Across many different studies and measures, men have been shown to have more frequent and more intense sexual desires than women, as reflected in spontaneous thoughts about sex, frequency and variety of sexual fantasies, desired frequency of intercourse, desired number of partners, masturbation, liki…

This kind of research depends on some degree of frankness that may not always be available due to social stereotypes, religious stereotypes and other traditional 'purity' and shaming constraints operating on women.

It would be healthier to assume both sexes have fully functioning sex drives, perhaps stronger in some individuals and discard the outdated notion that women are not as 'interested' in sex or need to be 'persuaded'.

These outdated notions introduce some problematic concepts, reinforce traditional gender roles and taint a mutually beneficial activity into an unhealthy construct of 'giving' and 'taking'.

There are differences. Testosterone makes makes men more aggressive and this may well show in all range of behaviors including sexual but must be tempered with the fact that human beings do have control. Men are also unlikely to be turned on by social status but many women respond to both physicality and things like status which complicates attractiveness and drive.

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#174
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will use the app endlessly if real women are there Do they actually? I've spoken to many men and those apps don't seem to work at all. Usually gets deleted after a few days of usage. Like what's the point of being there if absolutely noone wants to write?

Hope - the best commodity that you can sell. It's no wonder Tinder is up there on the Play Store as the second highest grossing app alongside all the online gambling apps. That's because Tinder and all the online dating platforms are exactly designed to mimic gambling. You can't win if you're not in the game.

Depends what winning means to you - to me it means having stable partner with whom I connect on almost all possible levels, extreme compatibility in mentality, worldview, future plans, most hobbies (including some extreme sports) are shared. Willingness to do a lot for the other, commitment, decency, good heart, love.

Oh, and good, very good sex.

Apart from last item (in variable quantity), nothing of that can be found on Tinder. I tried, many people I know of both genders tried, it is simply not there. Shallow, mostly uninteresting not really potential 'partners'.

Those 1-night standers are definitely real life losers - no balanced personality wants this lifestyle long term and even short term is too much for most. But those riddled with childhood (daddy) issues, inferiority complexes, or otherwise deeply broken human beings have a place to have fun. If you're not one of them, don't expect anything but emotional harm from it

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#175
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What I’ve long wondered is how women react in the real world now that they have all the power on dating apps Women always had that specific kind of power in real world. When/if you go to a party, observe the people who are alone, standing against a wall; they're invariably men, without absolutely no exception. This says everything about power. Having said that, bear in mind that this kind of power is only a (arguab…

It took me half a lifetime to realize this, but you are correct. It's the man's job to try, and it's the woman's job to choose. It's honestly changed the way I think about relationships.

> It's the man's job to try, and it's the woman's job to choose.

Is that a descriptive or prescriptive statement?

Or put another way: Are you observing and remarking on cultural norms, or stating "This is how things should be?"

I only ask because when someone says "It's X's job to [whatever]" the connotation is "X should [whatever]" but the context surrounding this made it ambiguous.

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#176
post #172

If you really want to see something weird (from an American perspective) take a look at "matrimonial" websites such as shaadi.com , and Indian dating apps. The selection criteria for ethnic groups and religions! In the North American melting pot it's crude and racist to put blunt preferences in a dating ad, in India (and Pakistan, and Bangaldesh) apparently it's the norm.

>In the North American melting pot it's crude and racist to put blunt preferences in a dating ad, Is that really true? I've never heard of the common phrase "swf looking for swm" [1] -- being called out in mainstream circles as racist . Unlike employment or assigning bus seats in Alabama, the domain of romance was given the latitude for racial preferences without being demonized as "racism". [1] https://www.google.co…

in south asia it's much more specific, because there is the unspoken requirement that whoever they match with has to be of suitable ethnic group, religion, caste, etc to be acceptable to the parents.

also language, because between the three largest south asian countries there's something like 25 languages spoken...

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#177
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And on that note I'll be cancelling my dating site subscriptions immediately.

The world mourns.

You're part of the problem you know. By judging people based on their success or failure in the sexual market, you're helping to build the mentality that causes people to do things like get in a van and drive down the sidewalk for a while.

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#178

If you really want to see something weird (from an American perspective) take a look at "matrimonial" websites such as shaadi.com , and Indian dating apps. The selection criteria for ethnic groups and religions! In the North American melting pot it's crude and racist to put blunt preferences in a dating ad, in India (and Pakistan, and Bangaldesh) apparently it's the norm.

I don't see what's wrong in being upfront about what you want and facilitating that. It keeps the process simple and works as a pretty good initial filter.

While you're talking about the melting pot in the western world, it just so happens that eventually most whites end up with just whites, and blacks just blacks. Most beautiful women end up with rich men, and religious people end up with religious people. Long term "melting pot" relationships aren't as common as you think. If sexual selection eventually filters all but those common traits, why not be blunt about them?

E.g., while the Indian dating sites you talk about bluntly list salary, western sites use complicated proxies (like interests == international tourism, or your profile photo with a tesla you own).

That dating has to be complicated and subtle and what you need has to only be "hinted" isn't any better than being blunt about what you're looking for, and being blunt about what value you think you'll provide to the other. At the least, you'll have saved time and heartbreaks.

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All dating should be like gay apps/dating... theres always someone wanting to talk to you, trade pics and try to hook up with you. At least if you have a nice body, decent face and are 20 to 40... unfortunately being white might help too. Str8 dating app scams barely exist on gay/bi apps. There's no need for it due to how men are. Horny and looking 24/7.

What I don’t understand is why so many people (at least women anyway) come to dating apps and declare they are just “looking for friends”. Is this really a thing or is it code for something else? Who is really so oblivious to think that looking for friends of the opposite sex on a dating app where people are there for more than just friendship is a good idea? I would never go on a dating app to find platonic friends.…

Code for "hookup that sleeps over, repeatedly"

Re: Impersonators who are paid to flirt on dating apps

#180

About eight years ago I knew a teenager making over $100k a month sending dating site affiliate offers through Chatroulette. He had a bot that setup a fake stream and then pushed the affiliate links in the chat. This is not new. Back then it was affectionately called “e-whoring.”

The new thing with this is hiring offshored clickfarm workers (basically the same recruit pool of people who would be farming gold in WoW for $1.25/hour in a developing nation, or working in an IRS-scam call center), who multitask and use a set of pre-prepared scripts and their own customizations to have a few lines of back and forth chat with the (mostly male) rubes, then send them an affiliate link to get them to click on. This has the advantage of putting a human in the loop to solve captchas, and enough randomness from the human's behavior that the bot-like behavior is not immediately apparent.
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