Online Dating

We live in an age of technological advances at every turn. In recent years it seems that most aspects of human life can be handled by some sort of digital medium whether it be used in daily tasks business wise or being the doorway to social networking. The online social network has become so integrated into our lifestyle that it is hard to see a younger audience without some means of social networking. Online networking has evolved over the years and has begun to sprout out to individual mediums of socializing. With this evolution came the arising of online dating sites such as eHarmony.

Today in class we took a look at one of these sites, OkCupid and created a fictional profile to get to look around the site. Anyone who has dealt with these types of sites must have known immediately our account was fake based how our profile was based off of Michael Scott from the TV show “The Office”. It was pretty obvious which profiles were fakes or were made from others in our own class based on the profile information and time active of the accounts. It’s the creation of these types of fake accounts that I can see the downside of anyone trying online dating seriously. Personally I don’t think I would try or even like the idea of the online dating process.

Although I may not try it, that does not mean I don’t believe it can work. Online networking has opened up an entire spectrum of new ways to express ideas and emotions. Some comments one may not feel right expressing can now be made anonymously on most social media’s (though it doesn’t make the comment right). The groups of individuals who may not speak up in social situation suddenly can become vocal in a place where they don’t fear talking. These people, called sometimes introverts, now have a place to thrive and communicate without the fear of their shyness. The same goes for any social network. Facebook has become a socializing titan that creates a place where someone you may never hear speaks in person but online they speak everything on their mind (sometimes non-stop). Online dating sites such as OkCupid has provided a way for introverts to find that someone in their lives just like them. The told success stories you hear online from their commercials are somewhat believable from the thought of these people, too shy to talk in person, feeling feel to break the ice online.      

Although online dating can seem like a godsend to some, it can be serious trouble for others. We have all heard stories and seen shows based on the lies some online profiles can hide. Today was a proving point for such a thing. We created online profiles simply to observe the site, but some have been known to create a profile and play as the person. Disgusting as it can seem, the lies are not always that big. However some lies can be small on profiles like age, yet others can be a bit bigger like the use of misleading angles and picture filters to give an illusion of a certain look. While overall lying on profile pages is an annoyance at best, serious online dating site users may become frustrated or even hopeless in the process.  

All this being said, as I said before I personally would not try online dating. However the system does work. In general I feel that social networking has brought people closer than ever and open up a way to meet people you might not have ever met if not for online networks. Online dating may not be the way I prefer to do things, but who am I to judge if the system works? Technology has become a prominent part in our lives and with that comes help in all aspects, even dating. In the end, if online dating works for some couples than the system is a success.