Friday, September 26, 2008

RU 4 Online Dating?

I have been contemplating the way(s) that our increasing devotion to technology has affected the ways we communicate with each other and develop realationships. One obvious part of this discussion is the issue of Internet dating. I am really curious to hear your opinions on this topic. There are, of course, convincing arguments for dating online (you can find who/what you are looking for a lot easier; it gives you access to a larger "dating pool"; you can communicate and find out if there is any real compatability beyond physical attraction), but there are also a lot of reasons not to do it (first and foremost, there are a lot of freaks in the world, and many of them spend a lot of time online; the people you meet often live too far away for a real relationship; you can't know if you have chemistry with someone until you meet that person face to face; people are fake online, putting forth a false, or idealized, version of themselves). These are all arguments I have heard, not necessarily my own arguments. I'm sure you have heard these arguments, or similar ones.

So my question to you is this: Is online dating a good thing? Is it improving or hindering the way we meet and fall in love? Is it speeding up an outdated process or taking all of the fun and tradition out of what my grandparents would call "courting"? Feel free to share personal experiences. Do you meet people online? Do you have success stories? Horror stories? I am really interested in hearing your views on this topic, as well as your own diverse experiences.

~D

2 comments:

Brittany said...

online dating is intersting, i don't think is all bad or all good. It does open the dating pool, but at the same time people for thousands of years before have found love with out needing a computer to tell them who they are compatable with. something else i sometimes wonder is,if you go online and you find your matchs, are you more prone to like them just because you are supposed to be compatable with them. a good thing about online dating is you do get to know someone without knowing what they look like. however it is true there are a lot of creeps on the internet pretending to be someone there not. but as long as people are careful it is ok. i don't know anyone really well that has met and had relationship online, i have just heard stories both good and bad. over all though, i think online dating i think is helping many people have experiences that they otherwise might not have had.

Christene said...

For me internet dating would never work. I already have a trust issue and for me it would turn into a bigger issue as far as internet dating goes I am not sure I could ever really believe anyone. In the back of my mind I would always be thinking that this kid probably got this picture off the internet, and in reality he is forty years old, lives with his parents and doesn't have a job. Anyways why would a person who is good looking, has a good job, nice car, house, etc have to resort to finding love through the internet? Personally I find that through the internet you are creating a false relationship. When you finally meet the person that you have been chatting with online you wont know how to communicate, you are so used to expressing your emotions through written word that when it comes time to saying them out loud you wont know what to say. I also find internet dating a cop out. You may be shy or insecure but whatever, instead of being social or trying to find a 'real' person you go home to computer to talk to someone who may or may not actually exist.I realize that it has worked for some, but I keep going back to things I have heard on TV. Such as To Catch a Predator on Dateline. Internet dating would never work for me.