The Stigma of Online Dating

It has started to disappear, with more and more people meeting their partners online, 17% of married couples if you believe a study recently done by Match.com.  Other sources have the number as high as 25%.  Still, the notion exists that anyone that has met their partner online was resigned to doing so...as if all other options had failed.

Fuck it.  I was going to approach this with a diplomatic tone, but I'm tired of being shit on because I don't drink, party, or club and because of those things I chose, chose (please bitches, do my pictures look like I took the airbrush fire hose to them?  Shit's all natural) to try and meet someone on the internet.  Oh and I was successful.  Multiple times.

pictured: badass

I've been on OK Cupid for almost four years now.  In that time I've met five people in person, one of which I am still friends with, and another of which is my current partner.  To add to that, I've probably met at least another 50 people that I first knew on Twitter or various message boards.  Do you know how many bad experiences I have amid all those online-to-real-life shenanigans?  Zero.

Online dating isn't exclusively for old people, ugly people, or emotionally defective people (although many of them certainly do use various sites).  It's for all the people that have gone to parties and clubs and social events and realized, "this is fucking stupid.  Why am I even here?  I hate doing this, why would I want to meet someone that likes it?"

I'm lucky in that I realized that about myself fairly early and thus avoided many headaches.  That isn't to say that online dating is perfect, but for an introvert with introverted interests, it was definitely the way to go.  I like to read, and write, and think, and I like other people that do those things.  There aren't many 'social' ways to meet others that do.  The only going out-type activity that I do is going to the dog park, and even then I don't interact much because I feel that people want to spend time with their dogs, not get hit on by strangers.

It's also good for people with specific interests, like BDSM.  If you partake in 'real' dating, the "can I tie you up?" question usually doesn't come until a point deep in the relationship.  Why would you waste all that time if something like that is a dealbreaker?

Anyway, I think that since people seem to think it's okay to speculate about my personality defects because I use online dating websites, that's only fair that I do the same for anything I can find.  (I'm a writer, I'll find a lot.)