Single people are fighting for their lives out there between awkward small talk, overpriced cocktails, and trying to figure out if someone’s dating profile is actually accurate.
As you can see, modern dating is stressful enough without adding surprise plot twists. Unfortunately, that’s what most people tend to experience when they start trying to date.
Months ago, TikToker Drace (@unodosdrace) met someone on a dating app for the first time ever, and he ended up getting catfished. It definitely soured his experience with dating apps.
So, they made plans to meet up at an establishment. When he walked in, she was already there. They immediately made eye contact.
He wanted to run right back out the door, but she had already spotted him, so there was no turning back. The problem was that his date looked nothing like the photos on her dating profile.
The photos had been heavily edited to the point where she looked like a totally different person. Nothing could have prepared him for the emotional whiplash.
He felt that the situation was unfair for both of them. He walked into the date feeling blindsided, awkward, and disconnected.
Meanwhile, she likely spent the entire evening wondering whether he noticed the difference and whether rejection was coming the second dinner ended.
Many TikTok users could relate to his story. They flooded the comments section with their own horror stories about getting catfished by misleading profile pictures, ancient selfies, and aggressive filters.
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Some were fooled too many times before developing a strategy to weed out the weirdos.
“I was catfished and was so traumatized from it, I deleted my Hinge and worked on myself for a year,” stated one user.
“I’ve been catfished so many times until I started FaceTiming. I don’t care; we’re not going anywhere if I can’t see you on camera,” commented another.
“Someone catfished me and then ghosted me after the date, even though I was willing to get to know him,” shared a third.
“This happens to me all the freaking time. Guys have the oldest, most obscure pictures of them at some weird angle or using Snapchat filters. Like, do you think I’m not going to notice you look way different in person?” chimed in a fourth.
“I got catfished so bad, I had to tell one of my friends to call me for an emergency so I could leave. He knew, and I felt bad and gave him some money for the dinner,” added someone else.
At this point, heavily edited dating profiles have practically become their own dating app genre. Overall, the lesson here might just be that everyone should start normalizing FaceTime sessions before wasting money on appetizers and suffering from emotional damage.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
