Finding Nem... I mean Catfish

Dating is stressful. Seriously though, the stress of asking someone out is very real. Have you done your research? Who all is going to be around when you ask them out? What if they say no, how will you handle the rejection? Then you have to make sure you have enough hours at work to pay for a nice date if they yes, because no one likes a cheap skate. Later on, you have all the stresses of getting ready for the date. How does your hair look? Do you smell alright? How is your wardrobe? Did you get reservations? Did you clean out the car and does the car smell nice? Do you have a plan for the evening that shows you did more than just ask the girl out? How will you handle the "dad talk"? Do your plans for the evening allot for a crazy early curfew set upon you in the previously mentioned dad talk? If you have survived thus far, are you prepared for the date itself?   Does your idea of a date coincide with what your date considers to be a date? How much psychical contact is ok, and how much is not ok? What conversations will you have? Are you prepared to answer questions about your ex's? Will you be gutsy enough to ask personal questions about your date? What is your plan for when something inevitably goes wrong on the date? Lastly, and perhaps most important, what is your escape plan should the date prove to be a complete and utter failure?

Now do not get me wrong, despite the long list above, preparing for a date is very fun. Getting to meet new people can be very enjoyable; beyond that, experimenting with a potential romantic relationship can be quite exhilarating. So my question is why would people forfeit all of the exciting, but still stressful, questions above in order to foster online relationships? Sure, dating takes time, money, commitment, and in some cases-relative proximity : all things of which some people simply cannot give at times in their lives. It is at these times that I could understand people's wishes to have a relationship through an online platform. Yet, even then, this still requires the other member of the relationship to be in the same life situation in order for both to be justified. So what about those who willingly chose to participate in online relationships even when they are quite capable of fostering in-person relationships? I would say this is the first step in determining whether or not someone is a catfish or not; that is if they chose to stay online when they could promote in-person dating experiences. As for fully finding catfish, if you date in-person you will not have to find them the hard way.