There is no doubt that thanks to the technological advances of the 21st century the dating scene has changed. In my previous posts, I discussed how couples interact for the first time through text messages and also how long distance relationships are maintained easier with technology. About every 1 in 5 relationships begin online through either social media sites or an online dating service.
Today, when stating you met someone online is no different than expressing you met them a drunken night in a bar. Online dating has provided the opportunity to be exposed to many different types of people you may not have had the chance to meet in an offline setting. My family friend works about 50 hours a week on night shifts so she has no time to go out to a bar with girlfriends to try and meet a guy. After realizing she did not want to be alone anymore she signed up for a dating service. She was able to meet her now steady boyfriend on the site but if she did not bother signing up who knows when she would have been able to meet someone outside of her workplace.
Another aspect to online dating that is different from years ago is that people are able to communicate with multiple people simultaneously. This concept has coined the term multi-dating. The benefit of multi-dating is that if one date goes terribly wrong, you have the ability to ask the next person on your profile out. There is a comfort in knowing that you have the chance to explore all of your options. You are also able to meet a variety of people in a short amount of time, which makes it easier to pinpoint the exact type of person you are searching for.
“The people who created the "dating multiple people at once is cool" philosophy must have been brilliant. They were able to come up with a way to keep dating vague and fun, without running the risk of getting in trouble or having other people hold it against you if you saw more than one person at a time.” –Shine.com
So far, multi-dating sounds like a breeze. However, there are downfalls to the game of multi-dating. Askmen.com has a long list of cons including, huge time commitment, expensive, risk of harming your reputation and you may pass up your soul mate if you are not giving everyone enough time or attention.
Dating sites have their advantages besides being able to meet unexpected people or the ability for multi-dating. Once you have interacted with a particular person for a while online you are able to understand how the feel and the way they think in great detail since they have to write it out. If the person you are talking with does not spark your interest anymore it is much easier to back out than it would be on a real live date. You are also able to be yourself online without the fear of what to wear and how to do your hair for a night on the town in attempts to meet someone. At the point you are comfortable meeting someone in person you will feel confident and hopefully the conversation will be never ending.
Online dating has progressed throughout the years and is starting to become the norm. There have been many success stories through online interactions, just watch any online dating service commercial.
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