Online dating has become increasingly popular in society today. Most people rave about online dating because of the convenience and simplicity of it, but online dating does have some weaknesses. In The Weaknesses of Online Dating, the author Jesse Singal creates her argument on the topic of online dating by challenging points from Matthew Kassel's piece--50,000 First Dates.
Online dating is one of those topics that has a lot of controversy. Some people argue that online dating is the way to go because that's how they found their "soulmate" but others argue that online dating is a sham (because they haven't had the same positive experience).
The Ideal Self, which can be defined as an idealized version of yourself, is used in online dating all of the time--which can be problematic. Since we all have an ideal self, online dating is the perfect time to bring it to the surface. However, ideal self does not equal actual self and that is the problem. Online daters often portray themselves in a different light that doesn't always add up to who they really are--rather who they'd like to be. And when the two people in the relationship meet, one may be disappointed when they discover the truth. Ideal self isn't always a bad thing, though. Online daters can use the ideal self as a tool to list possible goals they may have for themselves, and having goals is never a bad thing.
In the 50,000 First Dates article, the author uses the illustration of a slot machine to describe going through the vast number of women on sites like OKCupid. He uses that as a weakness of online dating--there are too many possible partners to sort through. That can be seen as a blessing or a curse. Since there are so many possible partners to go through, if you strike out with one you can move on (very quickly) to another one. However, that could possibly be overwhelming for some people because there is no way to really tell if someone online is right for you or not.
Another possible weakness drawn upon from both the 50,000 First Dates article and the Weaknesses of Online Dating article is that many people use online dating as a means of "finding a good time" or hooking up. That can be tough for folks that are interested in finding a meaningful relationship and can be confusing to know who is and is not just looking for a good time.
All in all, online dating has strengths and weaknesses and for some people it works out really well. I know quite a few people who have found their spouses through the means of online dating and they are still together. So, it would be unfair to say that online dating is useless because it can work out and bring people together for meaningful relationships.
SO if anyone is thinking about taking the online dating voyage here is a nifty article I found that tells you exactly what to do: Everything You Need to Know About Online Dating Enjoy! ;)
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