Online dating.

My first experience with technology based dating was AIM Messaging at about 14 years old. Let’s give it up for cool away messages. Can I get an amen?!

 

I’ll never forget it, I had a guy friend who I would see in real life pretty regularly in group settings, we were chill. He were buds, or so I thought.

 

For a few weeks we chatted pretty regularly on AIM. We would have funny, light hearted, FRIEND conversation about meaningless things. Zero conversations were had about being more than good buds. I thought our friendship was headed in a solid direction only to have him break up with me a few days later. The conversation went something like this…

 

Him: “Hey.”

Me: “Wazz up?”

Him: “I’ve been thinking. I think we should just be friends.”

Me: “What?”

Him: “Yeah I think we should just be friends.”

Me: “Okay cool. Sounds good to me.”

 

It was at this moment that I was first off, genuinely confused as to how he thought we were more than friends, secondly, how completely unaware that I was.

 

That was 2004, now it’s 2018 and I am still confused. Genuinely perplexed about the assumptions that people make, the conclusions that they come to and the risk’s they refuse to take with love because of technology.

 

We are at a really weird point in society, half of the dating world is meeting online and the other half are still meeting organically. 5 years older and a majority still meet organically, 5 years in the future and everyone will be meeting on the internet. I’m not currently online dating but who knows, maybe those of us who are single will be forced to that point in the near future because organically meeting is becoming increasingly rare.

 

It’s a really weird dichotomy when you think about it. I would argue to say that a big majority of people don’t actually want to meet online, but cell phones. The convenience and the fact that you get to hide behind a screen are alluring.

 

I’m also not saying that online dating is good or bad, I actually don’t really even know where I stand with it. I do know that some of you currently reading this met your partner online and thats such a beautiful thing. However love is found, it’s a beautiful joyous thing.

 

I am saying that, technology is making dating weird, people are making dating weird, so now dating is double weird.

 

I have no idea what the solution to the problem is apart from prayer and fasting and counseling. Now accepting thoughts & prayers.