Linked: How online dating can lead to companionship
By Rachel Goff / Staff
- Photo by Chris Wong / Staff
In a world where you can text, Twitter, Facebook, dial, e-mail, instant message and MySpace anyone you want, has fate completely left the dating world? Remember fate? It is that thing that most of us are all too young to remember. Fate has moved us to the online world, and now it depends if you and your sweetie are both on the same dating site. Is online social networking the future way to meet your mate? Communication professor Dr. Joshua Azriel seems to think so. “I suspect twenty years from now, it will be the norm to meet someone online. This conversation we are having right now will no longer be considered unique and will be outdated,” Azriel explains. “It will be the same as meeting someone through a church group, organization, or at a bar.”
Online dating has grown rapidly in the past 15 years with no sign of deceleration. According to datingsitereviews.com, in 1995 over half the adults in America met their spouses through friends, family or other mutual acquaintance. In 2005, that changed with over three million Americans finding long-term relationships through online dating. The number is now at twelve million Americans with a predicted growth rate of evelven percent next year.
For the skeptics, online dating is easy. “You can get to know each other a little bit, before you go on that first date. So when you do go on that first date, you already know a little something about each other,” said Azriel. That means no more awkward silences or talking about the weather. You can text, Twitter, Facebook, dial, e-mail, instant message, MySpace the person as much as you want before actually meeting in person.
Anyone can date online, but it isn’t for everyone. Azriel believes it takes a certain type of person, someone who knows technology and about internet safety. That’s why a majority of people on dating sites are younger people, especially recent college grads. “When you’re in college you might meet someone in your classes, in an extracurricular activity or if you are a member of a club. But after you graduate college and you are in the work force, it can be difficult to meet some people to date. Everyone is going to try the bar or the cheesy singles club, but the internet makes it easier. You can input your information and the website tries to match you up with someone with similar interests,” informs Azriel.
What about safety? The horror stories of meeting someone from online in person can frighten people away. Azriel states the safety issue is the same for someone going on that first date with anyone, no matter where they meet them. “Before there was even such a thing as online dating, boy and girl go on a date, and they end up dating a psycho. It happened all the time,” said Azriel. “A lot of these dating websites try to have security measures to prevent that.” Azriel did give out some safety measures before heading out on that first datezzzzzzz;
- · Don’t ride in the same car. “You don’t have to pick somebody up from their apartment. A date can be two people meet at a location.”
- · Pick a time to have a friend call or text you during the date to make sure everything is going alright.
- · Do something active. “A mall is a great place to meet because the mall has restaurants, places to shop, and arcades.”
- · Meet in a public place, not your apartment.
People can be whoever they want to be online. What happens when the person is not who he or she says they are? That’s the only apparent downside to online dating. “You can project a certain image online. Laws that help protect us never keep up with the pace of technology. Ethics do not keep up with the pace of technology. There will always be danger. Technology will always be a little bit more sophisticated,” said Azriel. The question now remains, just because you can…would you? Hopefully, after plenty communication, you can finally make that commitment to a first date.
