Digital Love

Is It Ever OK To Lie On A Dating App?

Millennials discuss the white lies they tell on their profiles, and why.

by Lauren Tegtmeyer
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Originally Published: 

When it comes to dating and making romantic connections, honesty and communication are key. That's why it's so surprising to learn how many millennials are lying on their dating profiles — and why they do it. Bustle's Digital Love, a series that pairs research with real answers to explore dating and relationships in the digital age, explored the reasons why some millennials are fibbing in their bios, especially when the whole point of dating is telling the truth.

Dating app Hinge surveyed its users and found that 38 percent of men and 24 percent of women reported being kittenfished. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's a variation on catfishing: Instead of pretending to be a totally different person online than you are in real life, you tell little white lies — about your height or age, for example — in the hopes that more people will be interested in you.

If it sounds kind of bleak, don't get too bummed out. Most people are generally honest about who they are on their dating profiles, and if there is some white lying going on, it's usually about insignificant physical details that don't actually matter that much. In other words: sure, men might be more prone to lying about their height, or women might lie by omission about their jobs (one woman in our video says she never lists that she's an actor), but in the grand scheme, these are all things that won't matter as much if you have a real connection.

In this episode of Digital Love, our group of single millennials gets into what they lie about on their profiles, and what lies have been told to them. In general, most agree that a little bit of fudging the truth is par for the course in online dating — you just have to decide what you're cool with and what you're not. Check out their interviews in the video above.

Executive Creative Director: Lauren Sofair

Executive Producer: Whitney Buxton

Producer: Lauren Tegtmeyer

Director of Photography: Marshall Stief

Camera Operator: Sam Cowan

Design Director: Andenew Ayele

Motion Designer: Jeff Donlan

Editor: Meline Rosales

Video Assistant: Sasha Mahmood

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