At one time it seems online dating was thought of almost in the same light as ordering a mail order bride. People thought of it as kind of weird, desperate, or something only "lonely" people did.
Today online dating is very mainstream, just look at all the television commercials for Eharmony, Match, Zoosk and others. They fill up your email box with offers of try us free this week and show up as banners on every site you visit.
It only makes sense. Online dating was the social networking of online before social networking existed. We do everything online now days from shop for clothes, grocery shopping, buying our insurance so it only makes sense people would turn to the web for dating as well.
Still however some people are a bit hesitant or still find online dating to be a bit taboo. From time to time I'll see a profile headline saying something along the lines of..."will you lie about where we met?".
I've met a few long-term girlfriends online and sure it's not as interesting how we met story as "well I was shopping for melons at Whole Foods and Cindy here bumped into me with her melons and we had a good laugh." However with our busy schedules and the bars not being ideal places to meet online is normal and makes sense.
As you get into your later twenties you get busier at work, begin going out less often, and also realize the bar scene isn't an ideal place to meet someone and many people turn to online dating.
I've turned a number of my buddies onto online dating and for the most part they are all thanking me and shoving their phones in my face showing me the new hottie they are messaging from Zoosk, Match, OkCupid, or whatever site they happen to be on.
I do however have a few buddies who are holdouts and say it's weird or it's not for them so that's kind of what this discussion today here is about.
I've been online dating off and on for a number of years. I started years back and it was far less mainstream than it is now. Some of my buddies gave me a hard time about it at first but I quickly brought up two very important points to them...
1. It's only online dating until you meet someone in real life, after that it's just dating.
2. I was getting dates and I hate to be so blunt as to say this, but also getting laid with regularity, and they weren't, so who had the last laugh there?
Online dating has changed in the last few years and it's much more mainstream. The pool of people has certainly expanded and grown however the mechanics and the overall process hasn't changed very much. It's really not all that different than what happens in "real life" dating.
You approach someone, all be it via message rather than walking up to them or buying them a drink. You establish a mutual attraction and mutual connection or commonality between the two of you. Then you try to score. It really is as simple as that.
I notice often people get hung up on the term "online dating", but for all practical purposes the Internet is nothing more than a venue or a medium to meet people just like a bar, club, activity group, dog park, grocery store, the list could go on and on and on.
Online dating gives you access to eligible members of the opposite sex, and in all actuality in a BETTER way than real life. That women you approach at the grocery store, bar, club, etc may be married, have a boyfriend, or just isn't interested in meeting people.
Everyone on an online dating site is actively looking for someone to date. Not only that but where else can you see several pictures of someone, see their interests, hobbies, music preferences and find even have a chat and get to know them without even putting on a pair of pants or leaving the comfort of your couch?
Point being online dating isn't taboo or weird, it's mainstream and though maybe not for everyone it's really nothing more than a venue or a medium to meet people just like any other place. Most important thing to keep in mind is it's only online dating while it's online, as soon as you meet in person and have a real date it's just dating.
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