jeaun.com

Personally, I think this is going to continue to grow as an industry. I know far to many people who have made friend's with people over the internet and it morphed into a RL friendship and I know a few people who have dated people they have met on the internet. It is the logical next step to organize that process and make it efficient for people to use...

The more efficient it is the more people will use it. The more people use it the greater the chance of success. The increase in success will make it more prevalent in our culture and lead to more acceptance of it as tool for dating.

i have hot, normal friends who swear by them. it's an interesting way to meet people, espeically if you're busy and/or nonsocial. i think they're more popular in towns where people are more focused on careers and/or tech savy. at least, in my experience, most of the nerve types are workaholics in some sort of tech-related or media field. that, however, probably has more to do with who i choose as a friend.

i met a cute toy designer on nerve about 3 years ago. we went on a nice date and that was it. i think it's also a good way for people who don't date to get their feet wet.

I was in the lovely little hamlet (?) of Elgin, IL this past weekend for the wedding of my second cousin (I think that's what she is -- our moms are cousins.) She met her husband on the internet. If I'm not mistaken, they met in an IRC channel catering to people who like hitting each other with foam rubber swords.

G, we're going to have to talk more about this the next time I see you--but I will say this now. The stigma that used to be attached to the "kinds of people" that place personals ads no longer exists. In a world where it is possible that MOST of life can be lived via the web, it is no real surprise that many people have turned to the internet to arrange their romantic lives. I don't know about all people, but I can definitely say that in the community of gay men in Chicago, internet dating services are a part of everyday life for many people--even MORE so for casual sexual encounters. There are many people who are tired of going out to a bar, spending a bunch of money on drinks, and flirting all night with people only with the merely questionable result of a snuggle-pat or even a little sticky-sticky. These people now have the convenience of EXTREMELY detailed personal profiles and instant messaging, eliminating a whole lot of steps in the process of hooking up. For just thirty dollars a month, I can go on gay.com (yes, it's true) at ANY hour of the day and find a guy that I think is hot, tell him I want some butt love in one hour, and in (ideally) two to three hours the process is over that would have ordinarily taken all night and a lot of money. On a different level altogether, the internet used for dating purposes can eliminate a lot of time "wasted" on getting to know someone that you're simply not compatible with. It's like McDating in the sense that you're saving time and money and you're taking advantage of convenience.

Internet dating services are a major breakthrough in a world where it is very difficult to get people to slow down long enough to talk to you. This is disturbing to me. On a different note, if we can say that the internet expands the realm of possibilities for our daily lives, so we can say the same for our romantic lives.

One more thing--I tried posting profiles on two or three different sites, and it proved to be not worth the energy . . . at least for me. There are a couple of factors that went into this conclusion that I'll tell you about later, but I will say that a McBoyfriend sounds nice, but I'd rather spend the extra time and money and have a N. Y. Strip Boyfriend.

I can pretty confidently surmise the meaning of sticky-sticky.... but the snuggle-pat has me befuddled....