TASH RANKE & ANGELA RANKE: Cyber dating – a great way to find your perfect match, or a one-way street to disappointment and superficial relationships?
As more people are choosing online dating sites as a way of meeting their match, the rules of dating have inevitably changed.
Back in the day a man would call a woman and invite her out on a date. He would pick her up at her house. Maybe he would bring her flowers. Chances are, he would call her the next day. It was called courtship.
Today, the world of online dating has made ‘courtship’ a completely different ballgame. Visitors to sites such as eHarmony, RSVP and Oasis Active are invited to create a profile and post a photo. They can call or email potential mates and vice versa, and this is all before they meet in person.
Some critics claim that this new form of dating has diminished the meaning of love because it only allows people to view a superficial profile, rather than extract personable details, which a face-to-face encounter would allow.
Others argue that while online dating has certainly made it easier to meet people, it has also made it easier to dump them as people can play the role of serial dater with little to no risk of getting caught. Potential mates then become dating commodities, to be dropped and traded like shares in the worst kind of market.
Despite the potential pitfalls for online dating, it is clear that sites like RSVP and eHarmony do work and are successful.
Research shows that more people than ever before are taking to online dating to find their one true love. In a recent study it was found that at least fifty per cent of people today have at some stage signed on to an internet dating site, and meeting via the internet is the third most popular way to find a date behind ‘through friends’ or making acquaintance at a pub or bar.
Chatting to Louise and George, who met on an online dating site more than a year ago, it is clear to see that both are reaping the rewards of their venture into the cyber world of dating.
Both decided to sign up to a dating site because they wanted to explore different avenues to love. For Louise, online dating offered her the opportunity to meet people different to those she had encountered in “real life.” George similarly explains that online dating made it easier to meet people whilst juggling a demanding work schedule.
Online dating websites are not just for the young, single hipsters in their twenties embarking on their quest to discover their one true love; it’s also a viable alternative to newly single parents and even grandparents.
The fact is it can be hard to meet potential mates as you get older: the pool of singles inevitably gets smaller as people pair off and get married. Similarly, the Internet can help divorcees get back into the dating scene and find love again.
This is not to imply that every subscription to a dating website will end with success, or that online dating is not without its problems, but the fact is, finding your ultimate partner online is achievable and not all that uncommon. There are many different avenues to love, why not let people find their own path?
