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Dating the Internet
Dating on Crack? : The Future of Dating on the Internet and How We Will Find Quick Love
Emily Ayotte
The internet has many different functions and has proven to be a valuable asset to society and the world. Among these different functions is the concept of online dating and networking. There are many various sites that provide dating services and matchmaking, for lack of a better word. This sort of use of the internet has been catching on for the past few years and shows definite potential to grow in popularity. In the future, internet dating could take first place as a way of meeting possible new intimate partners, but it is not going to be the sort of dating that we are used to now. The future of not just internet dating, but even face-to-face dating lies with the internet and the increase in speed that it has encouraged.
Based on the research I did for the digital ethnography, I think there is a definite future for dating sites and internet dating. In the past five years even, the dating sites have increased in number and in users. With its growing success, internet dating could be expanded upon indefinitely. In the future, internet dating is probably going to create a lot more opportunities in terms of how many people one might date at one time, as well as the length relationships. This is already happening now. Online daters are interested in more than one person, which sort of creates a problem for monogamy and the idea of just dating one person at a time. In terms of the length of relationships, dating sites have already increased the speed of relationships and those have shifted the relationship into overdrive, causing break-ups to happen sooner. Aside from these changes that we already see in today’s dating site world, there are other things that will change in the future. According to the research that Kara and I did, there is also probably going to be more dating sites with updated features that allow the user to do even more than they can now.
Obviously, there are many directions that online dating could go, but it depends heavily on the future of the internet too. The web has already expanded an exponential amount since it was first used, but now there are more aspects and uses for it as well. This is only going to increase as time goes on. Yes, online dating will still be a way to meet new people and date, but it will have new features, bigger expectations of usage, and more popularity among society. In twenty-five years, online dating could even morph into something that everyone who is dating will want to use. It will disclose all sorts of information about a person besides the results of their basic personality test. In some ways this could be a good thing. It will show the user a glimpse of a possible match and the user might completely write them off right away, which in turn will save them the time of actually dating the person and finding out they are completely wrong for each other. But how will these dating sites allow for this kind of heightened disclosure of a person?
In my ethnography, I talked about the specifics of Chemistry.com and the way it functions as a social networking/dating site. It distributes the same test to every member and creates a personality profile from the answers the user gives. These questions expose a lot about a person and their personality, but it seems to be a little more than just observing a personality. When a user takes the questionnaire, they are exposing a lot about themselves and who they are. Some of the questions don’t even explain the relevance of the user’s answer, which could be trouble for the online dater. If they don’t know what the relevance or importance of their answer is, they might completely disregard the significance of it. This already illustrates a problem of privacy and exposing yourself on the internet. This is one way that dating sites already disclose personal information about a person, but in the future there will be a lot more, that the user might not even be able to control.
The question of privacy and even judgment on the internet is complicated. What do we consider to be private? Will it change in the future? These are important questions that we should consider when thinking about the future of online dating. If the issue of privacy fades even more than it has now, there won’t be much that I can’t find out about my potential matches on a dating site. As Solove points out in The Future of Reputation, there are a lot of grey areas when it comes to privacy. If I do something in public, like buy diet pills, does that mean that I don’t mind if it ends up on the internet or maybe even on my profile on Chemistry.com. If someone thinks it is appropriate to tell everyone that I might possibly date that I am taking diet pills, they will probably be able to post in on Chemistry.com. Even though this is information that I might not want to disclose, it could wind up on my Chemistry.com and affect my dating life. When it comes to dating, the more you know about a person the closer you are to them, right? Maybe, but what if I don’t have control over what is disclosed to my future dating partners? In the future, dating sites might turn into a Facebook geared towards dating and with a personality quiz to establish your stereotypical personality.
Pretending it’s the future, let’s say I go online to a dating site and sign up to be matched with someone I am compatible with according to the dating site’s standards. I answer 50-100 questions about myself, which will probably be explained in the future, just so that I know the purpose and idea behind the question (This could in turn cause the user to lie or manipulate their answers). Even if I truthfully answer the questions, I am still somewhat stereotyped and grouped in a certain subtype of people, but with the direction of the sites now, I’m sure they will be more precise, accurate questions/stereotypes. Soon after I complete the survey of questions, the site will suggest matches according to the information I provided, but what if I don’t like any of my matches? Well, this won’t be a problem in the future. After I have answered the questions, I will be able to make some sort of profile about myself and who I am. I will then be allowed to surf through the other thousands of users and pick out some of the most interesting ones, or maybe the ones that I think are most promising. There will obviously be some way to filter out the unwanted matches or uninteresting users. I will be able to scan their profiles and pick out possible matches for myself. I will be able to go in and change the preferences and the qualifications for my own matches, especially if I disagree with the dating site’s options for me. This sort of citizen user type will give me the opportunity to go under the hood and fix things myself if I like, but I will also still have the consumer attitude.
As a consumer on the dating sites, I will be given matches based on the type of people that I have been looking at. Let’s say I have been looking specifically at guys who live in Wyoming and have interests in horses and coffee ice cream, well, the dating site will help me find more guys like this and guys similar to the type of person I have been searching for. In other words, the dating sites will start to cater more to what I think is a compatible match, rather than solely going on their judgments of compatibility.
The future of internet dating is clearly unknown, but it will definitely enhance the dating world as it is now. Whether it will be a good thing or not, the world of dating might be exclusively online in the future. I believe dating will become more of a consumer based pastime rather than a way to actually find a soul mate or a relationship. The future is hard to tell, but internet dating will definitely be in it and it will be full force.
Emily Ayotte
The internet has many different functions and has proven to be a valuable asset to society and the world. Among these different functions is the concept of online dating and networking. There are many various sites that provide dating services and matchmaking, for lack of a better word. This sort of use of the internet has been catching on for the past few years and shows definite potential to grow in popularity. In the future, internet dating could take first place as a way of meeting possible new intimate partners, but it is not going to be the sort of dating that we are used to now. The future of not just internet dating, but even face-to-face dating lies with the internet and the increase in speed that it has encouraged.
Based on the research I did for the digital ethnography, I think there is a definite future for dating sites and internet dating. In the past five years even, the dating sites have increased in number and in users. With its growing success, internet dating could be expanded upon indefinitely. In the future, internet dating is probably going to create a lot more opportunities in terms of how many people one might date at one time, as well as the length relationships. This is already happening now. Online daters are interested in more than one person, which sort of creates a problem for monogamy and the idea of just dating one person at a time. In terms of the length of relationships, dating sites have already increased the speed of relationships and those have shifted the relationship into overdrive, causing break-ups to happen sooner. Aside from these changes that we already see in today’s dating site world, there are other things that will change in the future. According to the research that Kara and I did, there is also probably going to be more dating sites with updated features that allow the user to do even more than they can now.
Obviously, there are many directions that online dating could go, but it depends heavily on the future of the internet too. The web has already expanded an exponential amount since it was first used, but now there are more aspects and uses for it as well. This is only going to increase as time goes on. Yes, online dating will still be a way to meet new people and date, but it will have new features, bigger expectations of usage, and more popularity among society. In twenty-five years, online dating could even morph into something that everyone who is dating will want to use. It will disclose all sorts of information about a person besides the results of their basic personality test. In some ways this could be a good thing. It will show the user a glimpse of a possible match and the user might completely write them off right away, which in turn will save them the time of actually dating the person and finding out they are completely wrong for each other. But how will these dating sites allow for this kind of heightened disclosure of a person?
In my ethnography, I talked about the specifics of Chemistry.com and the way it functions as a social networking/dating site. It distributes the same test to every member and creates a personality profile from the answers the user gives. These questions expose a lot about a person and their personality, but it seems to be a little more than just observing a personality. When a user takes the questionnaire, they are exposing a lot about themselves and who they are. Some of the questions don’t even explain the relevance of the user’s answer, which could be trouble for the online dater. If they don’t know what the relevance or importance of their answer is, they might completely disregard the significance of it. This already illustrates a problem of privacy and exposing yourself on the internet. This is one way that dating sites already disclose personal information about a person, but in the future there will be a lot more, that the user might not even be able to control.
The question of privacy and even judgment on the internet is complicated. What do we consider to be private? Will it change in the future? These are important questions that we should consider when thinking about the future of online dating. If the issue of privacy fades even more than it has now, there won’t be much that I can’t find out about my potential matches on a dating site. As Solove points out in The Future of Reputation, there are a lot of grey areas when it comes to privacy. If I do something in public, like buy diet pills, does that mean that I don’t mind if it ends up on the internet or maybe even on my profile on Chemistry.com. If someone thinks it is appropriate to tell everyone that I might possibly date that I am taking diet pills, they will probably be able to post in on Chemistry.com. Even though this is information that I might not want to disclose, it could wind up on my Chemistry.com and affect my dating life. When it comes to dating, the more you know about a person the closer you are to them, right? Maybe, but what if I don’t have control over what is disclosed to my future dating partners? In the future, dating sites might turn into a Facebook geared towards dating and with a personality quiz to establish your stereotypical personality.
Pretending it’s the future, let’s say I go online to a dating site and sign up to be matched with someone I am compatible with according to the dating site’s standards. I answer 50-100 questions about myself, which will probably be explained in the future, just so that I know the purpose and idea behind the question (This could in turn cause the user to lie or manipulate their answers). Even if I truthfully answer the questions, I am still somewhat stereotyped and grouped in a certain subtype of people, but with the direction of the sites now, I’m sure they will be more precise, accurate questions/stereotypes. Soon after I complete the survey of questions, the site will suggest matches according to the information I provided, but what if I don’t like any of my matches? Well, this won’t be a problem in the future. After I have answered the questions, I will be able to make some sort of profile about myself and who I am. I will then be allowed to surf through the other thousands of users and pick out some of the most interesting ones, or maybe the ones that I think are most promising. There will obviously be some way to filter out the unwanted matches or uninteresting users. I will be able to scan their profiles and pick out possible matches for myself. I will be able to go in and change the preferences and the qualifications for my own matches, especially if I disagree with the dating site’s options for me. This sort of citizen user type will give me the opportunity to go under the hood and fix things myself if I like, but I will also still have the consumer attitude.
As a consumer on the dating sites, I will be given matches based on the type of people that I have been looking at. Let’s say I have been looking specifically at guys who live in Wyoming and have interests in horses and coffee ice cream, well, the dating site will help me find more guys like this and guys similar to the type of person I have been searching for. In other words, the dating sites will start to cater more to what I think is a compatible match, rather than solely going on their judgments of compatibility.
The future of internet dating is clearly unknown, but it will definitely enhance the dating world as it is now. Whether it will be a good thing or not, the world of dating might be exclusively online in the future. I believe dating will become more of a consumer based pastime rather than a way to actually find a soul mate or a relationship. The future is hard to tell, but internet dating will definitely be in it and it will be full force.
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