Internet Dating

Internet Dating

Background

The term online dating is a slight misnomer because this term actually refers to the formal process of matchmaking via the Internet. Online sites have been set up where individuals locate a potential partner and then the dating process takes places offline. This entry examines the process of online dating and the reasons that people elect to use this matchmaking method. In addition, it considers the best types of presentations of self on these sites and the future of online dating (Whitty, 2008). “the Internet is the most powerful event since the capture of fire.” (Mark, 2011)

Discussion

Technological innovation is moving at a rapid pace and dramatically affecting the ways in which people form relationships with others in contemporary society. Internet dating is one area that has grown in popularity over the last 15 years, providing a convenient and effective way of meeting others for friendship or romance. Internet dating sites can be used as an alternative to more traditional, face-to-face ways of meeting potential partners and has the benefit of enabling contact with others all over the world at the click of a mouse. Roughly equal numbers of men and women use Internet dating sites, but women in particular have hailed the use of Internet dating and indeed the use of online social networking sites more generally (Facebook and Twitter, for example) as empowering for women (Whitty, 2006). First, the anonymity provided by chatting to others via text online provides a degree of safety for women and, as a result, gives them more confidence in their communication with men; second, cyberspace is often celebrated by feminists as an arena where gender inequalities can be overcome and women can communicate with men on a more equal footing (Mark, 2011).

The online dating process involves registering with one or more of a variety of dating sites available on the Internet. The sites require you to respond to a series of questions and post a “profile” of yourself, which can include a photograph, details of personal characteristics, and aspirations for future relationships. Once registered, the user is free to browse the profiles of others using a search engine and similarly the user's own profile is on view for others to read. Users can contact each other anonymously through the sites to initiate further contact. The common goal of Internet dating is to move beyond chatting online via text and eventually meet face-to-face for ...