Mood:
hungryNow Playing: South Park
Topic: School reports
The pros and cons of Internet dating
Internet dating can lead to true love faster while regular dating may take longer to find true love.
The world of dating has changed for people today with providing all kinds of devices with text messaging, instant messaging, and cell phones. More and more options coming from almost every device out there it gives someone the opportunity not only to talk to other people face-to-face anywhere and everywhere so its not very surprising that Internet dating has become so popular over the past few years. Many users now have the convenience to chat with probable future “soul mates” without that nervous contact on the first time meeting. Personal profiles are everywhere and one can easily search for that perfect soul mate. Over the past five or so years, Internet dating has reached its highest with countless sites offering online dating services for virtually anyone. For the people who meet online and get married, it is now a thing of the present and is common to see people meet online and then later on get married. But there are still the downfalls to people who date online, which are the constant problems with people lying on their personal profiles from their marital status, height, weight, age and even their own pictures, and this has been happening for years. Many people are fooled into meeting the person who they think is their “Internet love” and put themselves into dangerous situations that may have consequences later on. But Internet dating has become everyday life, no matter if some think it is right or not.
If one were to tell their friends ten years ago that they met someone online, they would be considered insane or completely desperate for someone to spend their life with. As recently as 2004, people of all ages from teens to elderly people have started to use Internet dating as an easy way to find that perfect someone of their dreams to spend their life with. An idea so simple is as easy as using the computer at your own home, just going to a quick search on any Internet search engine will come up with hundreds of different Internet dating sites such as www.match.com, www.eharmony.com, www.myspace.com, and even Internet ratings sites as www.hotornot.com. Some even have sites for specific sexual orientations, religious dating, and some for college students who might be just down the hall from one another; its an easy way to find others who live relatively close instead of someone living half way across the world. A small personal story about dating people online, I had met my boyfriend, who was living in Ames at the time, and I would’ve never met him if it wasn’t for the internet, even though we attended the same concerts and restaurants, we were just too chicken to say anything or notice the other until he found me on an Internet dating site and started to talk to me. If it wasn’t for that site, we would have never met one another and probably wouldn’t be as happy as we are now.
The sudden explosion in Internet dating has been rising extensively since September 11th. “E-dating traffic has been picking up since September 11. and in response to growing demand, the big dating sites are adding more features and functionality. The 9/11 tragedy, experts agree, brought home the fact that life is short and relationships matter.” (Berney) Ever since September 11th, people have the demand for dating, on the Internet or everywhere else, has increased greatly. So the Internet has created the “supply for the demand” to find love. Plus its also easier to meet someone online who has common interests such as music, movies and food, which saves the unliked awkwardness talk with someone when trying to finding out what their likes and dislikes might be. College students today are finding online love easier than finding someone online than finding someone in an overcrowded fraternity or sorority party (Beckham Falcone). Almost all colleges are throwing in their hat into the Internet dating craze as creating sites to meet other college students, such websites as www.facebook.com are for college students to find boyfriends, girlfriends, and friends based on interests and classes and even many different colleges across the country and even into Canada now. Ever since its beginning, Internet dating was for adults in the 35-45 age range, but now its not just for them anymore and many people turn to the Internet out of convenience rather than meeting someone randomly somewhere.
So many think that finding a date is simple enough as going to class, a bar, the mall, weddings, or even concerts, but sometimes its not as simple as logging on to a site and chatting with someone. Many think that the Internet is taking away from human communication and isn’t helping people out there to find dates. But others believe that the Internet does help others find true love for those who could never find that special someone who lives in their town. Location is a big part of Internet dating; it might be a problem for some who find love while living in small town Iowa and finding someone who lives in Florida or Washington. Also disabilities stop others from dating others. “One senior man who fell in love at first byte on Match.com told the service “if a legally blind, bald, one-legged old man can find love online, then anyone can.” (Berney). The Internet takes pressure off of those awkward blind dates and helps people to get to know their date before they even meet.
Risks however are always apparent on the Internet. Lying online is huge for Internet dating services, such as a 21-year-old man who is a slim 170 pounds and 6’3 could turn out in real life to be a very heavy 48-year-old male, 5’8 and 280 pounds. Pictures that people post on dating sites could be five to twenty years old or not even them, some people use model’s pictures to show others who they are, when in fact they look the exact opposite. Over the past ten years there has been numerous stories about Internet dating that have either been abused or even ended tragically with someone loosing their life or disappearing all together. Such a story of a 15-year-old girl was going to meet a supposedly young man at the mall in Massachusetts, and her “date” turned out to be a 40-year-old man from Long Island, New York, who kidnapped her, locked her in a basement and raped her, until a week later she was able to escape and get help (Massapequa Post Online). Another story about a recent Internet story happened in Iowa just this past week, two cousins were discovered brutally murdered in Cedar Rapids after one allegedly met a guy online and had dated, he unfortunately turned out to be their killer. Many friends have posted their last respects online for all to see. The Internet can be a dangerous place causing grief for those searching for the exact opposite feeling, because most come to the belief that the person who they are talking to on the other side of the screen is everything they say to be, but when they finally meet many are disappointed to find out that they are nothing like they said they were.
There are people doing everything in their power to protect those who have chosen to date online. State legislatures are finding to pass bills to protect their citizens, TRUE is one of those bills, which requires all online dating services to conduct sexual offense and criminal background searches on all their members. The legislation says that any online dating services that fail to use such safety measures must warn their members PRN Newswire). The fourth state to support TRUE is Florida along with Texas, Ohio and Virginia. Almost all dating websites are searching through profiles to sort out false identities, some are even offering their own background checks that if someone who is married or has a criminal record can’t be in the dating sections. The ever-growing Internet is becoming determined to use as many safety measures as possible for their growing members.
In a society where instant messaging is replacing phone use, Internet dating websites might replace malls, bars, and nightclubs to meet people. But not yet though, the next thing to be replaced by Internet dating in the next few years would more than likely are newspaper personal ads. The Internet has negative aspects of people falling for false information and might make it hard for those to actually meet rather than meet someone online. But the Internet has thousands of success stories of people finding their true love, engagements, and even marriages for those who thought they could never find someone just like them or felt the same way about things. The Internet has become a place of not only communication but can connect people from across the world, and more people will continue to find love online when all else fails for them.
Works Cited
Bemey, Karen. "Love at First Byte." 2004. Discovery Health. 07 Oct 2004
Beckham Falcone, Lauren. "CampusHookup.com: Internet Dating Foothold at
Local Colleges." 21 2004. The Edge. Boston Herald. 07 Oct 2004
"Florida Becomes Fourth State to Support TRUE's Nationwide Safety Campaign." 12
2004. FindLaw. PRN Newswire. 07 Oct 2004
"Massapequa Post Online." 22 2001. Police Blotter. Massapequa Post. 07 Oct 2004
Safe Internet Dating. 07 Oct 2004