The Intrigues of Online Dating

I’ve always had an unexplainable fascination with online dating and all of its variations. Part of it may have to do with the mystery behind how it actually works and the amusement of the entire process. If the idea of two complete strangers initially ‘meeting’ each other through online profiles, sparking up conversation and then meeting in person for a date and possibly a future relationship doesn’t slightly amuse you, even if that is you, then you should probably reevaluate your sense of humor.

People have varying outlooks on the idea of online dating but it really boils down to one of three mindsets:

1.)It looks desperate/Sad/Pathetic: Although online dating has become more popular/slightly acceptable over the years, many still look down on the idea for a number of valid reasons, here are a couple:

1.)There are a lot of crazy people online

2.) There are people online who will lie about what they put in their profile and of course lie about what they look like

3.) who REALLY wants to tell their friends and loved ones that they met their current boo on a dating website?? “We met online.” Seriously??

 

 

2.)It’s Just another way to meet potential suitors: This is essentially the purpose of online dating right? I mean what if you really could not find someone who you would consider dating material? If you’ve tried your very best to meet someone in your area or if your life schedule is too busy for you to really go out there and meet someone, why wouldn’t you try online dating? It would seem like the most feasible next step outside of accepting indefinite loneliness…

3.)It’s the absolute last resort: This is the mindset of the people who are a mixture between one and two. They really hate the idea of online dating but at the same time they don’t want to be that 35 yr old who’s still on the dating  scene while their friends are all married with children. Obviously this tends to be a mindset of the older adult crowd, possibly age 30+

I remember about a year and a half ago(maybe more) I was watching a documentary on G4 TV about Online Dating. I can’t remember everything they said and definitely not word for word but they said something about technology that stood out to me. It was something along the lines of with the way communication through technology is advancing (i.e. e-mail, text messaging, IM’s, Social Profiles, etc) people, younger people especially, are becoming more and more comfortable with communicating in front of a computer screen or mobile device and less comfortable interacting in a social environment… That hilarious person you follow on Twitter? There’s a good chance that they aren’t remotely as funny in person, and is probably even shy.

The narrator went on to say that there’s a good chance that online dating will become even MORE popular as the years go by because younger generations aren’t being properly taught how to conduct themselves in social situations. I would definitely say that there’s some truth to that.

What I find to be ironic, funny, and maybe even a little sad is that there are elements of online dating in almost every form of social media out there. Myspace had it, Facebook has it, and Twitter is probably the worst. A majority of times people don’t even realize they’re doing it, I didn’t, well except for the few times I realized I was doing it haha. It could be something seemingly innocent; you leave a couple of over complimentary comments on your friend’s profile pictures, you pseudo flirt on statuses, tweets, or wall postings, so on and so forth. From what I understand about online dating, that’s really not that far off from what goes on in most dating sites…

But what do you, the reader, think? Do you think that social sites like Facebook and Twitter have subtle elements of dating sites or do you completely disagree? Also what are your thoughts about online dating in general? Finally, do you think it’s true that we as a society are slowly becoming socially awkward?