Internet Matchmaking
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Same lousy Saturday, night. The thought of going out to the local bar and selecting from a choice of drunken girls or testosterone pumped guys brings a bit of dullness to the practice of picking the right mate. Sure, maybe through all the drunkenness and beer spilling you may find one guy/girl who is decent enough to sit down and have a talk with, get to know, but its has got to be an easier way then this to find the perfect match for you. Well now there is. The newest form of picking a date is at your fingertips, electronic matchmaking. The opportunity to market yourself on the Internet and bring potential mates to you is an extraordinary experience that eliminates all the hassle of the "bar scene". In a matter of minutes you could have a selection of perfect mate(s) right in front of you, just from entering in a couple things you are interested in.
Electronic Matchmaking has made its mark all across the globe bringing together millions of people who are living happily together now. It's a form of dating like no other, which assist people on the search of finding a good mate. One matchmaking website, Match.com, boast that over 3,100,000 singles have used there services worldwide and have rated such by, News Week Magazine and USA Today. That means that people everywhere are trying this electronic dating. The particular sites set it up so simply that you can search for a mate and enter in your own information so that it's nearly impossible that you don't get a response. For instance, Matchmaker.Com homepage gives you a list of options before you even start. To register all you have to do enter in some information about yourself, then start a profile where others can view you also. After this is done, you are free to search and search to your hearts desire for the perfect mate. There's no limit to the how often you search or what you search for. So I wouldn't be a hypocrite, I tried it out a particular matchmaking site called Datesites.com which gave me a list of matchmaking sites, it took me Cupid.com where I was able to search for women from Cincinnati, age 18-35 with a picture on profile.
Another concern is that the number of misrepresentations in profiles may create problems as couples learn more about their spouses after the wedding; one of the primary fears that people have about online dating is encountering sexual predators.
Online dating has become so popular through the years. It has been a stepping stone for people of all ages in different ways. Most young people use social networking, and most people of older descent uses dating websites like eHarmony where you have to pay to meet that perfect match. Nev, Ernie, and Shauntel were all victims of online dating and as you can see most result came out positive and other times it came out negative. Ernie has was one who seen his cup both half full and half empty. The show Catfish shows the many people get lied to through online dating and gives a really bad name. Statistics show that people on online dating site lie about their age, height, and weight to make there self-look more appealing to others. Online dating can be used for good or for evil but it all depends on who’s sitting behind the computer screen.
The first principle being that people react to things on the basis of the meanings they have for them. To begin to determine the meanings people have for online dating, it would be helpful to look at the type of sites they are searching on, joining and essentially advertising themselves on. Someone who frequents a site like ‘match.com’ likely has very different meanings and intentions in regards to online dating than someone on a site like ‘Ashley Madison’ where the goal is simply to have an affair. In Blumer’s second step, where people derive meaning from their social interactions, sociologists might look at the type of social interactions between peers both online and off. They could be engaging in this activity because they know other people who have been successful, or maybe they have simply been unsuccessful through conventional routes. Maybe they feel the need to find someone because their friends are in relationships and they have a desire to fit in utilizing whatever means necessary. The third step is an interpretive process; that is the person takes everything they have learned about the meanings tied to online dating and adds their own interpretation to it. Maybe someone interprets online dating as simply the only way to get a date now, or maybe their interpretation is that it’s one of many methods used to try to to meet
DeVito wrote, “Some dating websites-eharmony.com and perfect match.com are perhaps the most notable-have members complete extensive scientific questionnaires about their preferences and personalities which helps further in successfully matchmaking people” (308). It’s unbelievable to see how dating has changed so much in such a short period of time. Back in the 21st century people tended to meet each other through friends, parties, or at work. There was no such things as internet dating or social media, just some good old fashioned one on one meetings. Also back in the 21st century people had to go through a process in order to date someone. Furthermore In order to get the approval to date some people had to prove himself before entering her house. Since online dating became a hit these days, a young man doesn’t have to go through an eternity of suffering or tension of the girl’s father’s eyes looking at him trying to find a fault in
Few people will argue that online dating has become the preferred method to find dates, relationships, and possible soul-mates. eHarmony frequently advertises with the statistics that in one year they had 33, 000 people get married after meeting in its networking site. There are statistics out that predict that more than 100,000 people get married each year after meeting in a dating network. (Tracey, 2005) With statists like these, one can see why there would be so much high pressure to win curious newcomers. There are marketing tools and techniques used to win them over. These online dating sites have done many things correct.
In “Technology Isn’t Ruining Modern Dating--Humans are” (New Statesman Network, August 7, 2015), Barbara Speed argues the success of online dating websites did not cause people to pursue hook-up culture, but instead the culture influenced companies to cater the needs of already interested people. Essentially, Speed characterizes online dating as a business. If people did not want such a fast paced dating world they wouldn't download the apps to find so-called lovers. Personally, I have never tried online dating myself; therefore, never put myself in a situation where I was judged romantically in a matter of seconds behind a screen. Additionally, people no longer want to spend too much of their time and effort with a person when they can go on their phones and talk to someone with similar intentions in a matter of hours. For instance, Slater’s case study, Jacob, right after he was dumped by a long term girlfriend, he instantly revisited his old dating profile and quickly started seeing girl after girl. However, he has a history of being a passive, negotiator, and low striving guy looking for a girl to fill a void in his life. Hence, Slater fails to mention that people are responsible for their own actions on dating websites regardless of receiving encouraging notifications from old
Think about how your grandparents met; was it at a job they both worked at? Then think how your parents met, through their friend group? Now, how do you plan to meet your soulmate? Over the past ten years, dating has done a complete 360-degree turn. A study done on Americans by the Pew Research Center found, “66% of online daters have gone on a date with someone they met through a dating site or app, and 23% of online daters say they have met a spouse or long term relationship through these sites (Smith and Duggan).” From a boy asking a girl’s parents permission to date their daughter, to today when people resort to dating apps and websites like, Okcupid or Tinder.
Dating, the starting point where two individuals look forward to a romance. Romance is the second stage where love begins, which will eventually lead to a marriage. The question is, where can it start? People are often looking for someone to date, but where they begin has many options. Online dating is one of many choices that allow us as people to experience one thing that many desire, a shot at love. As a Aziz Ansari, author of the book Modern Romance, points out, you can meet someone through a friend, or a family member, or even through work or church(pg 81). They’re all great options, but the one that is the most efficient is through online. Many people are constantly meeting through online websites such as, Match.com, Cupid.com, Christianmingle.com, and many more considering that there are millions of people meeting everyday. Online dating first started out as ads on newspapers which allowed people to tell other civilians a little about themselves as a person along with a contact number. This later on became more advanced and slowly began to become what we now know as online dating. online dating has made a mark as to how we date, and it has improved it for the better.
With technology advances steadily in today’s society, individuals steadily advance too. One of these aspects includes dating. Individuals in today’s society hope to find companionship through online dating websites so that someday some online daters might be able to find a companion. With websites like eHarmony, Match, Christian Mingle, OkCupid, Black People Meet, and JDate, finding the one seems to be easier and more convenient than ever. Most of these websites even display statistics showing that one out of five relationships start online. The questions that should be asked, is this a better and safer option than looking for the one in person? Individuals tend to ignore the possible risks involving online dating. They are willing to release personal information from pictures of oneself, to locations of where they work, or live just for the possibility of finding a companion. The online users have to ask themselves: is the risk worth it in the end, or does the benefit outweighs the cost? When searching for a companionship through online dating websites, negative aspects such as profiles, self-presentation, self-disclosure, predators and sexual mishaps, may outweigh the positive aspects and cause more problems and strife then actual good.
There isn’t much face to face contact when selecting a mate anymore. In fact, “With the increasing dissemination and usage of online mate choice, finding a partner via the Internet has attracted remarkable public attention in the last decade.” ( Schmitz, A., Thurer, S., Zillmann, D., & Blossfeld, P., pg. 1 ) Social media can allow for someone to select a mate via online.
Based on a research of Online Dating & Relationships, Smith and Duggan stated that the ways of finding partners have been changed with the times. In the past, people used matchmaking, arranged marriages and printed personal ads. With the rapid technology advancement, there are alternative methods - online dating sites and smart phone dating apps. To compare with the people who date traditionally, people who date online are active to choose their dream man or woman by browsing the others profiles (9).
...nships are being adjusted. They cater to the very need that Americans have, something that is not time consuming. The sites use algorithms to match someone with a compatible date. After mates are matched they begin to email or chat. Sometimes dates come out of these conversations and the couple ends up married. But most of the time nothing happens. What technology has done is make users shallow. With Social Media everyone sees the profile and that’s it. The profile is the pre-judgment that others can have on the user.
At some point in our lives where we are searching for that special someone. The methods of going about dating have changed quite dramatically over the years. Going out has grown from traditional dating, to internet 'dating', to group dating.
In recent years, online dating has become very popular with 1-in-5 Americans aged 25-34 years old using one or more of the many popular dating sites and apps, such as match.com, OkCupid, and PlentyOfFish. With the stigma of online dating gone, it’s turned out to be a great way to date, have fun, and potentially fall in love.
In the twenty-first century, we use the internet for almost everything that we do. We use search engines such as Bing or Google to find information. Websites like Netflix and Hulu allow us to watch shows and movies without an expensive cable or satellite subscription. Social networks provide a new way to communicate with friends and family. Entire companies are run through the internet. With gas prices rising every day, it has also become increasingly popular to see a lot of jobs turn to telecommuting. It’s only natural that as other aspects of our lives conform to the internet, that online dating should also begin to be more prevalent in how we form new romantic relationships. Online dating is the new normal, and this is more evident now than ever.