Online Dating

By RAMSESVII

Internet has revolutionized the whole style of meeting new people. In countries like America, internet connections
are available in most homes along with phone connections. In fact, many states also have free calling between
local numbers. Can you imagine the huge potential for meeting new people over the phone then? Online dating
is the latest fad of the twentieth century, but what before that?
The speed dating systems that gained immense popularity never really put restrains on the actual
interaction between the individuals who wished to date mostly with a romantic interest. Therefore,
many communication devices just eased the task of making two people meet, but they did not spell
out any rules for the way the relation would develop. It never specified whether two people would
become friends or a couple. At the very minimum, it posed the restriction of the inability to meet over
distances, but that is a problem that can easily be sorted out, isn't it? You just need to tell your date to
meet you somewhere.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ricardo Ripoll
• Release date: Nov 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223040828

Book preview

HOW DID IT START?

Internet has revolutionized the whole style of meeting new people. In countries like America, internet connections are available in most homes along with phone connections. In fact, many states also have free calling between local numbers. Can you imagine the huge potential for meeting new people over the phone then? Online dating is the latest fad of the twentieth century, but what before that?

The speed dating systems that gained immense popularity never really put restrains on the actual interaction between the individuals who wished to date mostly with a romantic interest. Therefore, many communication devices just eased the task of making two people meet, but they did not spell out any rules for the way the relation would develop. It never specified whether two people would become friends or a couple. At the very minimum, it posed the restriction of the inability to meet over distances, but that is a problem that can easily be sorted out, isn’t it? You just need to tell your date to meet you somewhere.

The complete relaxation of restrictions on the dating scene made meeting someone over phone a favorable concept.  

Before online dating, some other quick dating systems that people relied on too were popular. Video dating systems were a rage in the 1980s and 1990s where people performed a video on the VHS tapes. These videos were later viewed by the other interested party in private but in most cases, in the same facility.

The whole idea was to meet over the video, but not to bump into each others. Imagine the subtlety of the whole system, wherein service providers would alternate recorded tapes so that men and women would not recognize each others on streets!

Phone dating systems allowed people to call a common voice mail service.

Two singles could talk freely but they were charged rather heavily per minute. This system gained mass appeal in the 1980’s and 1990s though no one admitted to doing it!) The biggest problem with this system was that a differentiation between phone sex service and simple phone dating service was hard to make.

Phone sex is a sort of a horny porn facility where a female chats up with a male to arouse him, but does not intend to date him. Since the privacy of phone daters was protected, it was not easy to tell the difference between phone daters and phone porn partners.

In the later of the 20th century, computer dating was in vogue. In this system, customers filled out forms with a mention of their like’s dislikes and their preferences. These were later matched by a computer that held a record of many such prospective computer daters.

Based on the similarities in these ‘personal detail’ forms, compatibility of two people was decided by the computers. The latest addition to the dating world is the online dating service that makes good use of the computer. It makes use of the audio, video as well as the visual component in bringing two people together.

BRIEF HISTORY

One may wonder, when exactly did this concept of dating begin? Well, the idea of dating really was a result of the system of matchmaking that was prevalent in many of the ancient cultures. Matchmaking includes the act of bringing two people together for companionship in the context of marriage.

In some societies, this traditional form of bringing two people together has a professional outlook. In such cultures, astrology is also considered as the deciding factor behind making matches. There are agencies run a system of database holding records of ‘prospective matches’. Such agencies often rake in the mullahs in societies where arranged marriages are the rule of the thumb.

The concept of romantic love was popularized in the medieval times and many books describe the sense of happiness that a person derives out of such relationships.

In fact, some of the biggest works of literature have made love as the topic of story telling that changed the outlook of the society towards love at large. So much so that falling in love is treated just like a human right in many of the progressive societies!  Hence, we come to the importance of dating service as a dating system to bring two hearts together. 

Online dating traces its roots to speed dating, a formal system of matchmaking that aims to encourage people to meet a large number of people within the context of marriage. Rabbi Yaacov Deyo of Aish HaTorah designed this system to bring together young Jewish singles so that they could find a compatible mate.

The idea was so popular that several commercial services in USA started offering round-robin dating events across the nation. By 2000, speed dating was the ‘hippest thing’ to do, and shows like Sex and the City glamorized the concept even further. That was the beginning of the whole idea behind finding a mate, and that too without many hassles!

Like anything new takes time to be accepted, speed dating too, was criticized by many on the grounds that it simply didn’t seem ‘ right’ that one could decide whether a person could be the ideal mater or no in such a short period of time. However, staunch supporters of speed dating argued that the first impression is usually the last one, and so, one meet is enough to decide whether you can ‘hit off’ well!  

Studies conducted later on revealed certain facts hidden in our sub conscious mind. For example, women tend to be more selective while choosing their partner. For men, the age of the women is the most important guiding factor in choosing the right partner. Though viewed with suspicions in the initial stages, speed dating slowly became an accepted way of falling in love.

A conventional speed date setting includes a situation where two people actually meet, but in the case of online dating, that is where the difference arises. If you read more, you will soon get a picture of the whole concept behind falling in love over the internet.

WHAT IS ONLNE DATING, REALLY?

Online dating service is a dating service that is enabled by making use of the internet. This modern dating system brings together individuals who meet online crossing all physical boundaries.

The scope of internet itself is a clear indicator of the wide range of choice this service has, after all, political boundaries hold no importance when it comes to love over the internet.

Most of the times, people indulge in online dating with a view to develop romantic or sexual relationship with their preferred mate.  Net dating service is an un-moderated matchmaking service using the many advantages of technology in the form of personal computers, the Internet and cell phones. 

––––––––

Generally, when people date online, they provide each others with relevant personal information, like age, physical description etc. Such criteria help them search for individuals who would be interesting to them.

Online dating sites allow members to upload their photos and browse through a photo gallery. Some of these sites are free but some may require a monthly fee.

Some sites offer additional services like web cast, which is