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Is Online Dating for Geeks?
by: Kyoopid.com
"Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love won't look for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.'"Â So wrote Rufus Griscom, CEO and founder of the popular online magazine NERVE.com, in a 2002 article for Wired.
Internet dating, like the "lonely hearts" personal ads in newspapers of yesteryear, used to be reserved for losers, nerds, cyber-geeks, and the otherwise socially inept -- not to mention a breeding ground for stalkers, predators, pedophiles and rapists. Online dating has definitely gotten more than its fair share of bad press. Nonetheless, according to the Online Publishers Association - an industry trade organization whose digital branch members include CNN, ABC News and The New York Times - in 2004, paid subscriber dating sites became the largest "paid-to-post"Âcontent on the web, creating a market of $470 million. Either all the world's an online stage and all of its men and women merely a bunch of geek players, or more likely, the notion of virtual or digital dating has finally found a reputable mainstream niche.
There are, of course, those stubborn hold-outs, luddites and technophobes who argue that web-based romance lacks, well, "real" romance, and that the anonymity of "digi-dating"Âis just another impediment to face-to-face human interaction created by modern technology. And on the other hand, there are the countless testimonies of very attractive, outgoing, proactive men and women of all ages whose professional lives have left them little time to socialize and meet new people, but by going online have met - and in many instances married - the love of their lives. In fact, the biggest selling point of one immensely popular site is its "most marriages per match" claim.
It's just a fact: people are busier than ever before. There are more career options for both men and women, more life path choices to make, mounds and mounds of information to sift through on a daily basis. Yet what remains the same is there are still only 24 hours in a day, with still only seven days a week, and at some point between energy drinks, most of us still need a few hours sleep if we want to make or surpass our current average lifespan of 80-85 years.
While there is still a lot to be said for getting out and away from the computer to make face to face contact and meet new people in social situations, doing an online search for new friends or lovers is an incredible time and energy saver. All it takes is to sign up with a legitimate service - and there are quite a few out there -- post a photo and profile that include likes, dislikes, philosophies, etc. This speeds up compatibility responses and reduces that big first wave of general irrelevance that makes people doing the traditional type search for love often feel wastes their valuable time and diminishes their spirit.
Whether geek, glam or (as most of us are) somewhere in between, one of the most important keys to fully utilizing the potential of the Internet and finding dates is in writing an ad or posting a profile that is positive, upbeat and truthful. But just like "real"Âlife, the reverse is true as well. Someone who sounds too good to be true probably is just that, so always apply caution and common sense. Successful Internet dating is all about doing the research, weighing the pros and cons and having a safe, healthy and fun social life.
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