In today’s tech savvy world, it seems more and more people are choosing to find their mate online rather than in person. With online dating sites such as match.com, eharmony.com, and chemistry.com popping up everyday, the somewhat tedious way of meeting your “soul mate” is not left up to chance. But can online dating really work and help people find love? Or are people taking the easy way out of meeting people the old fashioned way…in person.
Before the internet people had to go out in the world and search for their significant other. Whether it was in school, the workplace, or at karaoke night at the local bar, finding that perfect match was an exciting and exhilarating experience and happened naturally. Unfortunately not everyone was finding success in the love department that easily. After so many miserable blind dates or the speed dating night from hell people were fed up and tired of the love game. Online dating seemed to be the answer to their prayers. Chat rooms were the first sign of this growing industry of meeting over the internet. Now online dating is a $976 million annual industry in the United States.
Remember the days of matchmakers? Once upon a time our parents were in charge of arranging our marriages. So is it that weird that we now put our fate of finding our mates in the internet?
I’m still not sure I buy this whole online dating thing. Can a 258-question personality test find potential partners? Studies say they might. According to an article by John Tierney, eharmony.com estimates, based on a national Harris survey it commissioned, that its matchmaking was responsible for about 2 percent of the marriages in America last year, nearly 120 weddings a day. EHarmony says more than 19 million people have filled out its questionnaire.
So maybe online dating can be the answer to finding a long term relationship. But should we just throw in the towel on building real life relationships ourselves? Call me old fashioned but I still think people should take the time to go out and date before we resort to the computer. What do you think?
Ask Ashley
Ashley, I couldn't agree with you more! Seriously, what ever happened to going out and finding that guy or girl. What ever happened to going to the park to sit and relax and run into "Mr. Right"? That seems like it doesn't happen anymore, not even in movies. People just don't find it worth it to go out and look for him and fall in love at first glance. Now it's falling in lust with a profile picture that may or may not be him/her. Sitting behind your computer during a corporate meeting on sites such as the ones you mentioned is definitely a hot trend right now and I'm hoping it stops soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, you should definitely check out my blog: http://praniece1107.blogspot.com/
Ashley! This is a great post. It's interesting because I was never a believer in online dating. I thought that chemistry should be the first and foremost thing that a relationship is based on and that comes from locking eyes across the coffee shop. But, my sister recently met her husband through J-Date, an online dating website that targets Jewish singles. They really are a perfect match and might not have found each other another way. I think that it's a great tool to connect people and the chemistry can still happen after they meet in person.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide what my thoughts are for online dating. On the one hand, it just seems very awkward to meet someone online. But then again, I feel like it might give you the opportunity to meet the perfect match for you. It's hard to say because its impossible to be at the right place at the right time. We all go into relationships hoping to find "the one" and then when a relationship ends its because the 2 of you simply couldn't make it work. It seems as though online dating takes care of the issue regarding whether or not theres someone else out there that you're just more compatible with.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I kind of wish online dating could be more socially acceptable. lol Its the same as being set-up with someone, except instead of being set-up by a friend a website is doing it for you.
Praniece1107- Thank for the comment! It's hard to distinguish whether people are truly trying to find love or just trying to find their next hook up. Sites such as match. com let you pick who you want to date by looking at members profile pictures. Other sites such as eharmony.com matches you based on a scientific questionnaire and picks the people for you. So I guess it's up to the user to decide how they want to be fixed up.
ReplyDeleteBrooke G- I do think it's great that people are finding their true love via online dating! Some people are just not good at the dating scene and want results fast. Congrats on your sister by the way! I hear J-date is a good site to try.
ReplyDeleteOne concern of mine however is sites such as eharmony and some other scientific dating websites refuse to match same sex couples. They claim they don't have the technology yet to match homosexuals but I think that is a bunch of BS. I think that if people want to try online dating everyone should be allowed to be matched.
TV- Yeah I was like you not being able to decide what my thoughts were. I guess I'm okay with it but I just don't think it's for me. I get nervous enough getting set up by friends and going on blind dates but at least those are people my friends know and trust. I'm putting all my trust in a website and I'm not sure I feel safe meeting people online. But more power to the people who have the guts to do it!
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