Being online, whether it is through social media, an online game, or a dating site/app, there are always potential disadvantages when it comes to forming online relationships.  Some of those disadvantages, which may be discussed in Safety subtopic as well, may include Catfishing, deception, "cheater strategy" (Jonason and Webster, 2012), online dating romance scams, and trolling. One of the disadvantages is the "cheater strategy." The "cheater strategy" includes manipulation, gaslighting, lying, and/or even criminal actions. (Lauder and March, 2022). It falls under the umbrella of the Dark Tetrad of personality (Lauder and March, 2022) which consists of psychopathy, sadism, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. This may affect an individual mentally, emotionally, and physically as well which can cause harm to the online relationship. Similar to the "cheater strategy", another disadvantage would be not knowing who is truly behind the screen. Better known as Catfishing. Catfishing consists of hiding an individual's true identity behind a fraudulent one. The strategy behind the Catfisher is to manipulate and lie to their victim to gain attention, money, or to stalk (Lauder and March, 2022). This can cause harm in online relationships because of not knowing who an individual may be talking to. The second to last disadvantage that will be discussed in this subtopic is trolling. Trolling can be defined as those who attempt to start conflict or any kind of argument online to annoy others (March et al, 2017).  Trolling can occur throughout any platform including online gaming, dating sites/apps, chat forums, video games etc. All of the above examples are disadvantages when it comes to online relationships because of the risks an individual may have, putting themselves online. 

Online relationships can have their benefits as well. Some of the most well-known advantages of online relationships would be diversity, control, and the convenience the apps/sites may have or be (Vandeweerd et al, 2016). Online relationships can create a more diverse setting and introduce an individual to a variety of people including different races, cultures, sexual preferences, interests, and ages. This can give the individual an opportunity to explore all possible options to find that special person. Control is another advantage mentioned in Vandeweerd et al. (2016). Every person can provide personal information of their choice. It can be as little as their middle name to their exact address. The individual on the dating sites/app can also limit the type of people they want to talk to instead of talking to someone in whom they do not have an interest. Another form of control that was mentioned, was the pace and duration of the relationship. An individual can go at their own comfortable pace instead of rushing to meet them in person (Vandeweerd et al, 2016). The third advantage of online relationships is the convenience each site and app has. As an individual gets older, it may be difficult to find that special someone in person. According to Vandeweerd et al. (2016) women over the age of 50 find dating sites and websites to be easier to use and set up a profile and begin to scroll at their own time. Another convenience of online dating would be the access individuals can have at their own time during their busy lifestyles. Overall, the advantages of online relationships can be beneficial to an individual and the relationship because of the convenience, diversity and control the person may have.