Online dating services are an extremely popular form of dating today. In a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association and comScore Networks, it was determined that people in the United States alone spent over 450 million dollars on online dating and personals services in 2004, which ranks online dating as the largest portion of paid content on the internet today.
As of the beginning of 2006, there are more than a thousand different dating sites available. Some of the most popular sites include Match.com, eHarmony, Yahoo Personals, and American Singles.
Though there have been forms of online dating occurring since the beginning the internet, there was initially a strong social stigma associated with it. People who dated online were thought to be strange, socially inept, or otherwise undesirable people that were resorting to an extreme measure to find dates. However, in the middle of the 1990s online dating became more popular, a wave that culminated with a movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan called ‘You’ve Got Mail’ released in 1998. As of 2006, the stigma of online dating has all but disappeared, and it is widely regarded as an intelligent, practical and effective way of meeting people for dates, relationships, and even marriage.
There are many benefits to online dating compared to meeting people by chance or at a bar, night club, or party. Users of an online dating site can browse ‘profiles’ of potential dates prior to communicating with them. This offers an element of selectivity that bars, and other traditional meeting places lack. In a live social setting, you are limited to the people present in the room, and may be engaged in a conversation by someone you have no interest in. Likewise, there is the ever-present fear of rejection in live scenarios. Online, it is much easier to say hello to people you may have otherwise been too nervous to approach. Additionally, there are many thousands more people to choose from, and you can select from people in any location in the country.
Critics of online dating often point to a number of dangers of the modern phenomenon, citing examples where users were mislead, lied to, and sometimes kidnapped or assaulted by people they had met by way of the internet. While these cases are indeed alarming, the dangers of online dating are common to all forms of dating. Meeting someone at a bar, nightclub or party does not offer any form of security that meeting someone online lacks. In fact, most dates that are arranged online result only after a long exchange of emails and phone calls, so members are able to get a feel for their potential date before even meeting them.
Dangers and stigmas aside, online dating is the fastest growing method of meeting people there is today, and has already permanently changed the way people find dates in our society.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Teen Dating
The idea of your teen dating can strike fear into the hearts of the parents in question. You've been around the block and know that things can go wrong in the dating scene. After all, you were once a teenager!
Maybe you remember coming home crying because your date turned out to be too aggressive, or made a mean remark about your outfit. But not all your dates turned out that way. Some dates were thrilling, with compliments and fun from beginning to end. So it's not all bad news.
There will be ups and downs, and your job as a parent is to be there for your teen and guide them in this new interaction with their peers.
The best preparation for teen dating starts at home. Young people base their expectations on the model you provide. Long before teen dating comes into their consciousness, kids see how their parents interact. Issues like respect for each other, compromise, privacy and assertive behavior are demonstrated at home between parents. When you and your partner have arguments, they are usually resolved in a compromise, with a little give and take on both sides. These are social skills that will help them in the teen dating scene.
Approach teen dating with confidence. Giving supportive guidance without being intrusive and keeping them safe are your primary goals. Here are a few ideas to get your teen started in the dating scene.
Encourage double dates or group activities for starters. This makes it easier for your child to get into the swing of teen dating. A double date at the county fair allows both girls and boys to be more relaxed with one another and just have fun. Both boys and girls have someone of their own gender to chat with if self-conscious or nervous feelings surface. A group of boys and girls going bowling or to the skating rink is another good choice. It will help them build confidence in teen dating.
Teens are very sensitive about the subject of teen dating. Be careful to let them know you'll be there for them without fostering an atmosphere of intrusiveness on your part. Respect their privacy. There will be times when they won't want to talk about every little thing. If you respect their privacy, they'll eventually come to you for your advice and opinions.
When the opportunity arises, have a frank talk with your child about some of the down sides of teen dating, and help them establish limits. If they find themselves in a situation where alcohol or drugs are present, let them know these components lead to being taken advantage of or being arrested. Let them know these situations will come up and that they can feel free to call you any time for a ride home if they feel uncomfortable. Be sure to emphasize that they'll not be punished.
Put your best foot forward in guiding your teen, and chances are their teen dating experiences will be happy ones.
Maybe you remember coming home crying because your date turned out to be too aggressive, or made a mean remark about your outfit. But not all your dates turned out that way. Some dates were thrilling, with compliments and fun from beginning to end. So it's not all bad news.
There will be ups and downs, and your job as a parent is to be there for your teen and guide them in this new interaction with their peers.
The best preparation for teen dating starts at home. Young people base their expectations on the model you provide. Long before teen dating comes into their consciousness, kids see how their parents interact. Issues like respect for each other, compromise, privacy and assertive behavior are demonstrated at home between parents. When you and your partner have arguments, they are usually resolved in a compromise, with a little give and take on both sides. These are social skills that will help them in the teen dating scene.
Approach teen dating with confidence. Giving supportive guidance without being intrusive and keeping them safe are your primary goals. Here are a few ideas to get your teen started in the dating scene.
Encourage double dates or group activities for starters. This makes it easier for your child to get into the swing of teen dating. A double date at the county fair allows both girls and boys to be more relaxed with one another and just have fun. Both boys and girls have someone of their own gender to chat with if self-conscious or nervous feelings surface. A group of boys and girls going bowling or to the skating rink is another good choice. It will help them build confidence in teen dating.
Teens are very sensitive about the subject of teen dating. Be careful to let them know you'll be there for them without fostering an atmosphere of intrusiveness on your part. Respect their privacy. There will be times when they won't want to talk about every little thing. If you respect their privacy, they'll eventually come to you for your advice and opinions.
When the opportunity arises, have a frank talk with your child about some of the down sides of teen dating, and help them establish limits. If they find themselves in a situation where alcohol or drugs are present, let them know these components lead to being taken advantage of or being arrested. Let them know these situations will come up and that they can feel free to call you any time for a ride home if they feel uncomfortable. Be sure to emphasize that they'll not be punished.
Put your best foot forward in guiding your teen, and chances are their teen dating experiences will be happy ones.
Dating Profiles
If you were to read though most of the dating profiles online, you would probably get the idea that everyone out there is perfect in body, face, and mind. We all know this is not true, but many of the people who start online dating often start out representing themselves as something that they are not. They soon learn though, that attracting someone by being less than honest never works. Once they see the real you, you have already deceived them. If people just had more confidence in who they really are, they wouldn’t have this problem.
Dating profiles often make it very easy to lie, though it’s not really the fault of the sites that host them. They can’t interview every person who wants to put a profile on their site, and there is no way they can check everyone out. That means if you are going through dating profiles on a dating site that you really have to keep your sense of intuition sharp, and you have to know when you see something that is too good to be true. The perfect person does not exist, though many try to make out like that is exactly what they are.
In reality, the more honest you are on your dating profiles, the quicker you are going to meet someone who is compatible with you. You can put up fake profiles if you want to, but it is not going to get you anywhere. Someone has to be able to know the true you, or at least as much as you can put in dating profiles. They have to have a good sense of who you are before they contact you so that neither of you end up disappointed.
Be honest when filling out your dating profiles and look for those who also seem to be very honest about who they are and what they look like. You may think you are a boring person, but I bet you that you are not. It’s hard to judge ourselves fairly, and it is sometimes hard to fill out dating profiles about ourselves when we sometimes don’t know what to say. If you have that problem, have a good friend who really knows you help you fill it out. They may see the wonderful qualities about you that you just can’t see in yourself. You may be surprised about how great you really are in the eyes of those who know you.
Dating profiles often make it very easy to lie, though it’s not really the fault of the sites that host them. They can’t interview every person who wants to put a profile on their site, and there is no way they can check everyone out. That means if you are going through dating profiles on a dating site that you really have to keep your sense of intuition sharp, and you have to know when you see something that is too good to be true. The perfect person does not exist, though many try to make out like that is exactly what they are.
In reality, the more honest you are on your dating profiles, the quicker you are going to meet someone who is compatible with you. You can put up fake profiles if you want to, but it is not going to get you anywhere. Someone has to be able to know the true you, or at least as much as you can put in dating profiles. They have to have a good sense of who you are before they contact you so that neither of you end up disappointed.
Be honest when filling out your dating profiles and look for those who also seem to be very honest about who they are and what they look like. You may think you are a boring person, but I bet you that you are not. It’s hard to judge ourselves fairly, and it is sometimes hard to fill out dating profiles about ourselves when we sometimes don’t know what to say. If you have that problem, have a good friend who really knows you help you fill it out. They may see the wonderful qualities about you that you just can’t see in yourself. You may be surprised about how great you really are in the eyes of those who know you.
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