@Bezhad: I must respectfully disagree with you, sir! My last relationship, which was quite a lovely one, started online (we met on a free dating site, in fact), and though the majority of people on those sites might use the tactics you describe (i.e. have no e-game), there are many people who are just looking to make a connection online which can then be transferred over to the real world, where you can then go about the ‘normal’ process, seeing all the body language, facial expressions, etc. I would recommend online dating to everyone…more and more it’s professionals of all ages who are sick of the same old bar/club scene or who simply don’t have time to go out and meet new people in their day-to-day.

@Lillian: Isn’t it wonderful living in the future? Now where are those flying cars we were promised?

@’Nette: Absolutely. The less I know, the more uncomfortable I feel. Why feel uncomfortable? Life’s too short.

@Sebastian: Thanks for the comment, Sebastian. I agree that in-person communication is ideal, but 1) that’s not always possible, and 2) I would say that the even more ideal ideal is to have a conversation in person after already knowing something about them from the Internet. Even if it is a bit sterile (not always the case) or biased (okay, usually the case), you can learn as much from that as anything else. It may be that it takes spending more time online to pick up on those intricacies (the same way it takes some experience talking to people in real life to be able to pick up on the full spectrum of those intricacies) but my thought is that denying yourself any piece of available information is a handicap.

Then again, I spend a significant part of my time online, so I might be biased

The 23andMe service is really cool and definitely worth it. My family got it for my father (who is a genealogy enthusiast) and it’s already helped with his search for our ancestors, not to mention identifying all those predispositions for diseases and such. (I’m not being paid to promote them or anything, by the way…I just think it’s a really cool service!)

@Oscar: Yeah, not everyone goes to great lengths. In all honesty, usually a Facebook or Google search is enough, and you don’t need to get into the advanced tactics.

Thanks for voting! Getting a lot of involvement, and I really appreciate it!

P.S. I voted for your next trip

Oscar

Having an actual discussion with someone is a far superior and quicker way of assessing them, as you can hear explanations and details in real-time with the person’s own tone of voice, inflections, facial expressions, and body language.

I may be biased though, since I seem to be among that rare breed that doesn’t use Twitter and visits Facebook maybe once a month.

oh, and that home DNA test looks really cool!! definitely doing it. thanks for the link.

@Nate: The stalker moniker was more of a statement than what I really believe myself to be, but it’s true what you say about either being a part of it or falling out of the loop. I know people who refuse to have a profile anywhere online and they seldom check their email, if they have it. And you know what? They’re left out. They don’t know about the parties or the weddings or the relationships people are in. It’s a shame, but refusing to communicate in the way the everyone else is because you prefer the old ways just shows a lack of flexibility and misguided stubbornness.

@Kristin: Totally. I personally have had a great time with online dating, and as you said, it speeds things forward so that you can get to the more core aspects of a person, rather than focusing on the candy coating.

@Wendyness: I have now!

@Bezhad: I’ve never hidden the fact that I want to be a cyborg. ASAP. But seriously, just because the method of communication is vastly different than it was 50 years ago, the important stuff is still the same. There are details that have changed, but what it means to connect with someone hasn’t and won’t change (until our minds are all linked up to a massive computer, at which point we won’t even need to communicate…it will be gloooorious!).