For all the stories that you find about finding love online, you’ll find just as many stories about heartbreak and deception. It’s true. The Internet is full of people who aren’t who they say they are. But it is a double-edged sword. Do you consider the picture posted on your online dating profile a good representation of what you look like on a day to day basis, or is it an enhanced version of your true self? Many people use photoshop, camera angles, makeup, lighting, etc… in order to create the best image possible. Is cleaning up your online dating picture dishonest?

Check out this real online dating story from Jeffrey T., who had several encounters with women who he thought misrepresented themselves before finding true love online:

“I went to college and I was meeting women at parties and in class but nothing ever worked out. One day I was looking through online personals and saw some pretty hot girls and thought to myself ‘These girls aren’t losers, I guess its okay to make an internet personal’ and so I did.I got a few responses a week, one every other day usually. Most of them were fake. I’d meet a girl who was ‘a model’ to find her smelly, dirty, with crooked teeth etc. I’d meet girls who “have the body of a dancer” to find them to have the body of a bouncer.

I’m not really shallow but there needs to be physical attraction for something to work.

I eventually got a response from this girl named Erin who went to my school. She sent me a picture and she looked alright, she was tall like me, slightly overweight but I didn’t care much, and had red hair which I loved.

One day after talking to her for a few weeks I rode my bike to see her. She lived in a dorm over a mile from mine so it was a decent trip to make late at night. I got there to find her not looking exactly like her picture.

She had really bad acne, but what was worse was that she caked on entirely too much makeup to cover it up so the makeup was all clumpy and disgusting. She had horrible posture and her entire body seemed all saggy like she was 90 years old. Needless to say I was thoroughly unattracted to her.

After that I made a new rule, I would no longer go to meet girls, they had to come to meet me. I lived in a dorm room so I would go downstairs to meet them since its a public place but I would not leave my building, just wasn’t worth it.

I went on alot of first dates in the time my personal was online, none of them worked out.

One date I think the girl used me for a free meal, she never returned my calls or emails afterwards and we got along good during the meal.

One date it was the girls idea to go to a strip club. We got a lap dance together, I think she may have used me to get a free lapdance.

But this story has a happy ending. I met Marie. She responded to my personal at the behest of her younger sister and we started seeing each other. That was 10 months ago and we’re still together, I am sure we will get married one day.

Internet Personals have really come a long way. Marie and I went to a BBQ on 4th of July and the 2 other couples there (who were both married) had met online as well. More people are meeting online than you may think.”