The Dawn of the Age of Electronic Dating

I was sent an email the other day, a checklist really, of how you know you are living in the year 2004. Of course there was the cuteness of entering your pin number on the microwave or emailing the person beside you, but no where on the list was the comment of 'you or someone you know has had a date with someone they met online'.

And this is the new wave we as a society are surfing on. Catching it and catching on. I mean, I've felt odd doing it, but really, it doesn't differ much than going to a bar or a pub. In the bar, you scan the room look around and sort through the countless faces until someone catches your eye. Online, same thing, you shuffle through the pictures like collector cards until someone catches your eye. And then the next step you make contact - either wink from across the room or smile and flirt, or you send an email or wink online. Next step, you approach and start talking; writing a witty email or by chance catching each other at the same time for a chat.

You get to know each other, talk, flirt - in person or behind a monitor and then there is a date. Meet up at another place, or in the online version, meet in flesh. I suppose the only disadvantage is not being able to see or hear the person completely. But with web cams, scanners, digital cameras and instant live chat, this is all changing. Where it goes from here is always up to the individual.

The dating world as we know it is shifting. Dating services, speed dating and now online dating. I still thing people consider it taboo to find and meet online, but more and more, it is becoming accepted. More and more single people are jumping on the bandwagon of finding a potential mate online, and more and more companies are profiting from the lonely single people out there.

As for me, it has been a positive experience all around. I've been fortunate enough to meet some interesting people; some I will see again, and others I won't. But this is how it goes in the real world and the not so real world of internet dating.