Athens, Ga

by: Brittany Denny and Alex Boswell

This is little Braeden Johnson. He is the product of an online dating match. Taylor Johnson and her husband Ben met a little over a year ago on the dating website Plenty of Fish. They were about to give up on the thought of online dating when their story took a romantic turn.

Taylor says, “the day that I was about to delete my profile, he messaged me and that was the last message I got before I deleted my profile.”

According to the Washinton Post in the last 3 years 17% of married couples met online. Online dating has become the 3rd most popular form of introduction.

Although, Taylor’s story has a happy ending not every person has that kind of luck. Recent Nursing school graduate Kayla Welchel turned to online dating. She quickly realized it wasn’t for her.

“You know I have this image in my mind that he is a nice guy, well kept, everything that he told me and we met up he has these really big clothes on. He’s kind of unkept a little bit. Turns out he has two children and has been arrested. He didn’t bother to mention any of this during the two weeks we were texting and talking online. ” Kayla says.

As with any internet adventure there are risks. People are encouraged not to give out too much information and be cautious who they choose to meet and where. According to privacyrights.org, 25% percent of rapists use online dating to find their victims. Taylor gives this advice to those who are looking to hop on the computer instead of walking into a bar.

“You have to be careful that is my advice to anybody who is going to do it. You just have to be careful.” Taylor says.

Turns out that 80% people lie on their dating profiles. But regardless of their experiences, both girl would recommend giving online dating a try.