Game changers

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Game changers Posted On 22 June 2021

How modern life has altered the dating scene

If you speak to your grandparents or parents about how they met, you are often hit with misty-eyed reminisces of eyes catching across a busy dance floor or meeting through mutual friends. What follows next is the common reprimand of having to trust your potential beau to meet when and when you agreed upon without having smartphones at their fingertips making the ‘running a bit late’ or even the ‘somethings come up’ messages impossible. Whilst this idea is presented through a rose-tinted lens, it was certainly simpler and seemingly far easier to know where you stood.

21st century dating has rapidly evolved and the majority of new couples report meeting ‘online’. And yet online is one word which encompasses a whole array of websites (over 1400 of these!), apps, forums and socials. The benefit to these mediums is the clarity they offer as what each party is looking for: is it a long-term prospect? Friendship? Something more casual?

The profile itself takes some consideration, you want to sound funny yet serious, into fitness but not a health nut, keen but not desperate. Photograph selection is another mind field to navigate, between 4-6 seems optimum with a solo picture, one with friends, one showcasing sporting prowess and one with either a baby or an animal (eager to point out the baby is not yours if it’s not but somehow proves you are a kind and gentle individual).

Many of these online mediums suggest a video chat before meeting in person, a pre-date if you will. Whilst these have the potential for awkwardness without a shared activity to fill the awkward silences, they are a great way to find out if you actually have things to talked about and whether there is a basic physical attraction.

So, whilst it could be argued that online dating removes some of the mystique and romance that elder generations enjoyed when meeting partners, modern dating allows you to peruse a far wider range of potential matches and to meet someone you know you have both shared interests with and with a compatible outlook on life. Perhaps the successful matches that come from these sites are of higher quality and will lead to happier relationships?