Friday, October 24, 2014

Online Dating and Weather


Brittney Mitchell

CAS 283, Section 004

October 21st, 2014

 

Online Dating

 

                Talking about online dating theses last couple of weeks really caught my interest. It was interesting to see how many people took to online dating first rather than face-to-face interactions. At the same time, I see how it would be easier for individuals to express their “true” selves. Especially, since you can neglect the other person’s non-verbal cues. I feel that online dating has almost became the easy way out. Yes, majority of us do live busy lives and constantly on the go; however, something like love we should make time for.

                “Online Dating in the Time of the Polar Vortex” is an article published by the Huffington Post brought up some unique and interesting arguments. I would have never thought that weather and love could relate to one another. The first one that the post brought up was rain. For me rain would be equivalent to a nice, cozy date inside or those days where you just want to sit round and do nothing. However, their research showed that “rain does not encourage people to look for love,” since “individuals have a hard time mustering the courage to put themselves out there online when their mood is already low. Which makes sense, because as soon as it starts raining it is like your mood just drops instantly. So I can see how your desire for looking for love on a rainy day can be at an all-time low.

                The effect snow and winter has on relationships is pretty obvious. I believe that most people see snow as the ideal circumstance for creating a perfect romantic scene. Who wouldn’t want to sit in front of a warm fire when there’s a blizzard going on outside and it’s 20 degrees out. A lot of my friends see winter as “cuffing season,” which is the necessity/want for a boyfriend or girlfriend becomes the forefront of most conversations and actions. When it comes to online dating people are more likely to go online and search for that perfect someone.  According to the article, “In New York City, 56 percent more messages were sent and 38 percent more profiles were viewed during recent snow storms.” For me it doesn’t seem odd that the percentages are relatively high.

                The last type of weather the article spoke about definitely surprised me. I would have never thought that fog could play a role in our romantic lives, let alone online dating. Their study showed that the chance of people signing – up for online dating increased. For example, “there was a 45 percent increase in online dating signups when clouds filled the skies in Phoenix.” It makes sense that because right before its snows for example, it’s generally foggy out. Like I said previously, snowing leads to people wanting a relationship or just a significant other.

                After reading this article, I learned that just because poor weather affect how long it takes us to get to work or our outdoor activities, doesn’t mean that your love life will be negativity affected. In all reality you have a better chance of finding your significant other or possible dates, especially when you look to online dating.

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