Online Dating the Great Divider

Online dating isn’t bringing men and women together despite what many may think, quite the contrary, it’s tearing us apart.

This is the thought that came to my mind the other day as I strolled along the brightly lit pathways of a mall. You see, I wasn’t at the mall to shop, or to take a walk, or to even hook up with a lady, no, I was there because I had this craving to interact with other humans that I hadn’t done in a very, very long time, to actually be a part of something, to see, smell, and feel the vibrancy that comes from the hustle and bustle of life itself. And when that thought came to me, I rapidly realized that this is what is missing from online dating, and in our society as a whole. The cause of this degradation of human interaction is the over utilization of our current technology.

I say this because we are quick approaching the time when human interaction, as a whole, and as crazy as this may sound, won’t be necessary, or at least at a very minimal level. We are already at a point in human history, unlike any other time before, that we can get almost anything we need from home, and to do it, all you need is a computer, which means, as a society, we are becoming more anti-sociable everyday, which brings me to one of our greatest downfalls, online dating, the reason for this blog.

Online dating, as is being used now, is all about physical, anti-social behavior masked behind the pretense that people are meeting one another, which is not the case, at least it isn’t the case for the majority of us. We are not actually “meeting” each other at all at first, if ever, but are instead hiding behind our computer screens typing words that are always held in high suspicion of being a lie, which can’t be denied because that’s what online dating seems to be all about, just take a look at the average profile. Do you really think this person is twenty years old, has blond hair, and is fit, then think again? This person is more like fifty, has gray hair, and is forty pounds over weight, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you happened to be after those kinds of features, but not when the person who says they are that and more, are not. The reasons for these lies are varied, from security, to personal choice, but again, they are lies and helps to perpetuate the hiding and anti-social behavior that is swiftly becoming the standard of our day.

Am I saying then that online dating is worthless? No I’m not, not as long as it doesn’t replace the normal dating process, but instead supports it.

The truth is, as I see it, online dating can either be a great tool by which we can use to help unite us, or the great rift that will continue to add to the separatism and isolation that is gripping our lives today; it is all up to us; it has always been.