Internet dating

Source: Oxford Internet Institute. Research Project entitled “Me, My Spouse and the internet”, result of a survey conducted to couples in 17 countries.

See the complete work at: http://blogs.oii.ox.ac.uk/couples/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Me-MySpouse_GlobalReport_HoganLiDutton.pdf

“Correspondence between beings, between their searches and consequences. No time interval defined by absences that invaded the existence. Dimensionless spaces exchanged by the epistolary way…”

Ariela

A serene composure invades the existence at the time of enjoyment

Demac awards 1995-1996

Before, only about twenty years ago, most people met their couples at parties, at work, a friend introduced them, in a bar … Only twenty years ago…

Today, a not insignificant 15% of the couples in Europe, United States, Brazil and Australia are involved in a relationship that started online and the number tends to grow…

According to a study by the Oxford Internet Institute, in 1997 internet started to gain ground as a way to meet new people.

 “From then until now, 23% of the people under forty years started a relation through internet; about 36% of the people 40 and over, found their current couple online”.

It appears that the prejudices around the internet as an “impersonal” way to make friends and boyfriends or girlfriends has begun to change. One of the most interesting results of this study reveals that now internet is “an extra space” to make relations such as going to a bar, to a concert…

 “Online dating, either by specific dating sites or by social networks, has become a significant part of the repertoire of options for singles looking for a relationship”.

However, the research clarifies that this doesn´t mean the cancellation of those other spaces, but rather they complement each other.

Another interesting finding of the research is the way in which individuals “go” towards a relationship, not anymore as something accidental, but like a conscious, thoughtful, deliberate search.

 “The relationships don’t just “happen”, they are looked for… it is an activity with its own set of contexts, conventions, is not only something that “happens”…

Even though nothing is guaranteed, social networks as Facebook –networks that, by the way, are preferred on the top of other exclusive dating sites- allow to the interested person to know the real name, pictures, and in general, the way to interact in the world of the person who is to your liking and then direct his or her actions to realize a relationship with him or her.

 “People do not need to be successful in finding a relationship to approve the dates online; to agree with this new way of meeting people, it´s just a matter of trying”.

And the use of internet to interact does not stop when a couple has been found, but, discovered the survey conducted by the Institute, “it is a technology that serves many purposes, including the search of intimacy: comments in a blog, a whole videoconference, cybersex and even emotional attachments can be achieved.

What do you think? We are interested in your experiences.

Have you tried finding a couple online?

What was your experience?

Would you recommend its use to other people?

What advantages or disadvantages do you see in this way of meeting people?

Write your comments here or send them to diana.perez@demac.org.mx