Scientists Legitimize My Match.com Marriage!

When I started internet dating, in December of 2006, I was embarrassed about it. Why would any self-respecting 22-year-old, after all, want to wade through a virtual pool of creeps and weirdos? I would talk about it in a jokey tone, as if I were only after the avant-garde experience. And that was part of the appeal. But thinking back on it now, my online search for love was far more earnest than I ever admitted to my friends or to myself.The NYC bar scene (like most bar scenes, right?) is not a great place to spark a serious relationship. I’d meet someone and know immediately whether we had chemistry; I could see how a guy dressed, talked, smiled, maybe even how he danced. But I knew little about all the other things that matter, like his career goals, political ideology, religious background, or whether he could write a coherent sentence. I didn’t know, in other words, if we shared values.Internet dating is the opposite. The click of a mouse gives you a comprehensive profile of a potential date: age, religion, political party, degrees, hobbies, profession, income (yes, really, many people post their stats); whether he smokes, drinks, or wants marriage, children, or pets. Exchange a few emails with somebody and you know pretty quickly whether they’re illiterate or funny or brooding. You don’t know if you’re going to click.Read more at...Only Human, June 2013.