Staff writer - Latoya Wakefield
My friend, Mark stares at the computer as if Dracula put him in a trance while typing too quickly for me to make out what he’s saying. For over two minutes, I’ve been asking Mark the same question, even though he’s just a few inches away from me, he still hasn’t answered. I thought maybe he’s gone deaf until I peak over and see the center of his deeply disturbing distraction… a light coloured girl with long brown hair and a ‘coke a cola’ bottle shaped body. They were having an instant chat conversation. I realized that it wasn’t any popular networking site such as Facebook, Hi 5 or the latest one, Google Plus….it was instead a dating site. Something that was completely alien to me.
Through the services of the internet, I found out that Match.com is technically the first Internet dating service that started on the World Wide Web in 1995. Since then, the world of dating has exploded electronically, so instead of people meeting face to face, they now acquaint themselves through the internet. It’s so easy to just go online and start talking to someone who you normally wouldn’t have the guts to talk to.
It has been such a success, that many people are optimistic about meeting their soul mate online. Indeed, it does happen for some people. I’ve read several articles of people meeting and falling in love just by exchanging information, having conversations and sharing their day to day activities through emails and instant messaging.
In the Caribbean, a lot of people have taken to dating online. With our careers taking more and more hours and our counterparts not being up to our ‘standards’, we seek to do it like the wider world and find our mates ‘internetally’ . We can choose, refuse and accept who we see fit without the whole mess of letting someone down. Profiles are there to tell you what the person is all about and what the person is looking for, so you can get a heads up without sitting down and having a cup of tea first.
21st Century dating online
Now many sites are asking for a fee. If you want love, you got to pay (just like you would on a date anyways). However, there are many sites that are still free and even give you a trial period that you don’t have to pay a red cent for.
However, is it all worth it? Free or not? There’s no guarantee that the person is telling the truth. They can be who you want them to be. They could also be criminals or potential criminals. How do you know who’s true or not? It’s all a matter of taking chances just like anything else in life, even real dating. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take caution and do what’s necessary just in case that person might want to hurt you.
Never trust anyone too much, especially those you have never seen face to face and don’t know in reality. If you’re going to meet that person, let someone (or several persons) know you trust, all the details of where you’re going and who you’re meeting. Do first dates in crowds. Do not give details of where you live exactly, or your phone number or any personal details until you’re comfortable with it. Be wise about anything you’re doing….brains before emotions.
Fed up with real life men/women? Just sign in and meet your match. Lol, now that sounds like a tagline. …join me next time as I give you an insider’s take of the world of e-dating.
