Internet Dating Goes Mainstream
James Silver writes about his return to dating at age 35 (a youngster!) in a lengthy article “Dating game? It’s more like a war zone” for the London Daily Mail. Mostly, the article is a description of first date disasters which began online and off, but I thought one of his observations was particularly apt:
Until a couple of years ago, online romance was a freak show peopled by drooling creeps, social misfits with teddy-bear collections still living with their mothers at 43 and those let out on day-release.
Anyway, in just five years that has changed entirely. While no doubt you would still be able to root out a host of oddballs on every dating site, now many attractive, functional single men and women, who hold down good jobs and don’t live with their mums, are at it, too. And, most significantly, they talk about it openly, compare notes and laugh about their (many) dating disasters.
Since I met my husband on Match.com in 1998, I can’t agree with Silver that up 2004, online daters were members of a freak show, but I do agree that in the last five years, Internet dating has arrived. The turning point was 9/11/2001. Remember what we all went through? Suddenly, we had an almost universal awareness of the brevity of life and an aching for family and connection. People FLOCKED to online dating sites looking for partners. Suddenly, looking for love online was mainstream, and the cyber-closet was no longer needed.
Yes, dating sites have their share of weirdos and misfits, just like in the general population. Yes, you have to weed through to find the gems. But now you know where they are hanging out. And focus on the jewels, not the garbage around them.
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
