Online dating - a date with technology

by Laura Ford

Online dating: The latest feature on online dating sites is the 'virtual wink'. With online nutters, liars and older men abounding, is it time give the world a physical wink not a virtual one?

It is estimated that the internet now serves a quarter of the earth's population. Whether it's news, weather, banking, chatting, e-mail, shopping or a deluge of kittens you want, the internet is there to serve all of these purposes. However what many people did not expect was that the internet would provide the latest way for adults to meet 'the love of your life' - or so it says on the tin.

Online dating has become a huge phenomenon, with something in the region of 7 million singles having logged online in a bid to find love. Is online dating really the right way to find your perfect partner?

If you put 'online dating' into Google you will get a whole variety of results, from the standard dating sites you see advertised on TV to the less conventional ones such as vampire dating sites and national newspapers which also provide dating services. There are even sites advertised as 'Teen Online dating' sites; it is not until you get to signing up that it says 'over 18 years old only', so that makes it the same as all the others right? Right.

Hundreds of online dating sites are battling it out to get as many people to sign up as possible, all providing the same service with slight adjustments, hoping that these little extras will making singles pick one site over the hundreds of others.

The virtual 'wink' is one of these features and has become a bit hit in the dating world, allowing a person to wink at another person to indicate that they are interested... and seemingly too lazy to actually write out a message to introduce themselves. Not only that, but often the person you wink at is not the attractive stranger that you desire but a much older man who is way out of your age range. (Score!)

Is there a communication barrier in online dating?

One big issue of online dating is the communication barrier that appears when talking through the internet. A friend who has recently starting online dating gives a great example: 'I jokingly said to this guy "No picture no e-mail address :P" as I had asked outright for a picture beforehand. He didn't take this as the joke I'd intended and started accusing me of blackmailing him.' Obviously that relationship went no further.

Online dating and safety issues

Being safe on the internet is widely publicised, yet most people seem to think it is reasonably safe to go on a date with a complete stranger whom you've only conversed with over the internet.

The friend previously mentioned had one exceptionally eventful first date after speaking to a guy over an online dating site. After a pleasant but not particularly interesting dinner, she decided she wasn't really that into him and it was time to make a quick escape. After polite refusing a request that they go back to his on their first date (forward much?) she headed home. Only to realise that she was being followed by her date down the motorway and most of the way home. Knowledge of the area and some slight speeding and illegal moves on the road were the only way to lose him. It was a while before she went out on a date again!

It seems that if you want awkward conversation, being hit on by guys nearly twice your age and the company of liars, then the online dating world is the place for you... though some people say that in these and all other respects it's not much different to the real world.

Obviously there are positive outcomes from online dating and many couples have met online and have stayed together.

But really I think it's good to place more reliance on the 'old fashioned' way of meeting your partner. It's time to get back out there and give the world a physical wink rather than a virtual one.

More online dating / hating articles on Mookychick

• Cyber stalking
• Good online dating sites with a Mook factor

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• Babe's Bible | Riot Grrl | Music Minx | Wicca | Politics | Girl Geek | Kitsch Bitch

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