The Loneliness Epidemic Is a Security Crisis

Post by ge96 » Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

autobodie wrote: post #27

knighthack wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...women do spend more time on dating apps than men" How is that statement even true, when there are often more men than women on dating apps, by a significant factor? There are also studies showing just how difficult women are to retain on dating apps; behind the scenes, a lot more has to be done in the first 24 hours to ensure women match and meet someone of interest so that they stay in the pool.

Women spend more total time browsing. There was an amazing article on HN last week showing this but I can't find the link. Don't confuse total users or interactions with time spent.

Post by wakawaka28 » Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 4:43 PM UTC

autobodie wrote: post #10

ronnier wrote: post #5

> Romance scams cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars a year. As people grow increasingly isolated “People” is accurate but this is largely a male dominated issue. Men are targeted at higher rates and fall for these scams at much higher rates. Men need to be taught that random unknown women will largely not message them at random for sex. It’s almost always a scam. These scammers are playing on the psychology…

Source? A lot of the investigative reporting I've seen covers women targets. Maybe they just think women make better stories, but women do spend more time on dating apps than men. Women participate differently, but they definitely participate, and women are extremely vulnerable to emotional exploitation.

Post by HPsquared » Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 4:43 PM UTC

cdrini wrote: post #9

ronnier wrote: post #5

> Romance scams cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars a year. As people grow increasingly isolated “People” is accurate but this is largely a male dominated issue. Men are targeted at higher rates and fall for these scams at much higher rates. Men need to be taught that random unknown women will largely not message them at random for sex. It’s almost always a scam. These scammers are playing on the psychology…

I don't think this is true, I've only ever seen women talk about losing money due to romance scams on the news. Do you have any citations?

Post by pavel_lishin » Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 4:46 PM UTC

fullshark wrote: post #6

KittenInABox wrote: post #3

More and more I feel like online spaces are far more insidiously dangerous than anticipated. We have bots or malicious actors among the userbase explicitly to sow dissent and spin the quality of discussion downwards. We have algorithms that push content based on engagement, which isn't actually connection or anything resembling engaging with community. We then have online cultures that encourage lowering empathy for…

I think it's more dangerous as a parasocial playground. You think you are making friends, but in fact it's a poor substitute and doesn't carry the risks/benefits of proper bonding with another human. This is independent of whether the other person is a bot or their communication is curated by an algorithm.

Post by codespin » Fri, Feb 14, 2025, 4:52 PM UTC

autobodie wrote: post #10

ronnier wrote: post #5

> Romance scams cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars a year. As people grow increasingly isolated “People” is accurate but this is largely a male dominated issue. Men are targeted at higher rates and fall for these scams at much higher rates. Men need to be taught that random unknown women will largely not message them at random for sex. It’s almost always a scam. These scammers are playing on the psychology…

Source? A lot of the investigative reporting I've seen covers women targets. Maybe they just think women make better stories, but women do spend more time on dating apps than men. Women participate differently, but they definitely participate, and women are extremely vulnerable to emotional exploitation.