Have you ever met someone you found interesting and immediately logged onto Facebook as soon as you got back to your room to gather even more information on them? Admit it, we’re all guilty of it. “Facebook stalking” has become a part of our vocabulary – a social phenomenon that has revolutionized the way we date.
Dating has become much simpler with the advent of online dating. You don’t have to pick up the phone and call someone that you’re interested in or play an “iffy” game of “blind date.” Instead, take the subtler approach and send the date of your choice a seductive Facebook message. Write on their wall even, but only if you want the public to have access to your comment as well.
If you convince the object of your desire to return the feelings, Facebook becomes a medium to show them and everyone else how much you care. Forget roses and candy, a quick wall post lets your significant other know how you feel. If you’re really serious, you could even take the plunge and enter a Facebook relationship.
Online dating goes much, much further than Facebook, though. Over break I was catching up with some friends from high school and of course it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to our love lives. One of my friends said she had a new boyfriend. No surprise there, but when I asked her where they met, I’ll admit I was a little shocked. MySpace.
It has gone further than just flirting with someone you met the night before – there’s no need to even leave your house to meet someone. Post a few vanity shots of yourself, and possible dates will be lining up to chat.
People are actually meeting their future mates online, trusting in what they see on the internet to be the truth about their new “friend.” Sometimes this isn’t always the best or safest way to go. There’s always the chance that that cute, shaggy-haired 21-year-old political science major may really in fact be a 45-year-old father of three who never even went to college and just poses as someone else for fun. But he also could be that cute political science major.
If we go one step further along the online dating continuum, we get to Web sites such as Match.com, which give us even more options for dating.
I doubt many college students subscribe to sites like this when the frat quad is just a few tipsy steps away, but some young people do use dating sites. Take a friend of mine that was only 22 when he started using Match.com. He soon met the girl of his dreams and became engaged a year later. Of course that ended in heartbreak, but who’s to judge?
Myers is a member of the class of 2009.
