A/S/L?

If the above nerdspeak isn't familiar to you, you're a noob in the world of online dating. Oh, how far we've come. Gone are the days of casually asking for an anonymous screenname's age, sex, and location, when the only digital meat markets were bland, faceless chat rooms where pirated music, copies of the Anarchist's Cookbook and badly scanned photos were traded freely on an open market.

Things have evolved a little since the days of the first versions of simple software like mIRC and Napster. The catalogue of humans seeking mates has matured in a number of ways; we can now find out the most intricate details about potential partners in shiny, catalogued lists, so our vanity can scroll quickly, eliminating the unworthy, leaving us more time for Facebook and reality TV. Go, technology! 

Thinking back, I met my first successful internet date at the age of 14. Back in those days, meeting someone online didn't come with the stigma that spawned from the library of horror stories passed around as the freaks and generally undatable of the world slowly began to discover that the petrifying fear of those first, essential, real-life introductory encounters were no longer necessary, thanks to the Internet. He was 17. My mother drove me to his house and met his parents on our first date, who thought our digital hook-up was SO CUTE! Ah, the romance. Our relationship was painfully adolescent, and consisted of a few interrupted make-out sessions and watching movies, until I eventually got bored and moved on to an equally hormone-saturated insecure guy a few years older than me. All-in-all, a pretty successful first online encounter, which would set the tone for 11 more years of letting the Internet be my wingman. 

That's not to say that all, or even most of my relationships are thanks to, or are to be blamed by, the Internet. The majority of my failed relationships have been due to poor, real-life decision making – I haven't needed the Internet to meet idiots. People being the imperfect creatures we are, inherently, encounter all the same pitfalls that occur in relationships engineered in the real world, in those formed online. That being said, if you're looking for a genetically, mentally and socially flawed partner, you need look no further than your nearest Internet connection. 

For example, a close friend of mine ended a relationship with a good-looking guy she met online for generally bizarre behaviour. A month later, and she was forced to call police after he climbed on her woodshed, and recorded her on his Camcorder while peeking through the blinds in the middle of the night. Another friend met a girl online, who was knock-out gorgeous, and slept with him within minutes of meeting. He was horrified when she asked for money afterward, threatening to call in her “manager” who was waiting in running car outside. 

Here are a few more great stories. Well, great for us to read, though the research was likely not as great for the authors.

Horror stories aside, online dating has evolved in the 21^st century, become less scary, and more acceptable. The fact is that while there is an army of freaky serial internet dating disasters lurking in the shadows of every site, a ton of wonderful, people of potential can be found online. Many of my seemingly normal, real-life friends exist on one social networking site, and some use dating sites. I'd venture a guess that many have met someone online at least once. Because of the growing popularity, success stories rival the terrible, and the taboo stigma is disintegrating. In 2008, the frequency of shameful admissions are decreasing, and people are becoming, generally, more open about their online dating exploits. I sometimes ask people I've met online why they're there, because they're truly people I would date in real life, that don't need that digital assistant to meet women. Most often, I hear that inconvenience and lack of time day-to-day make online dating the best choice. Other benefits include learning essential information about a potential without have to buy it a round of drinks.

Fat, religious, gay, professional, or gasp, painfully normal? Here's a GREAT site that has catalogued, described, and rated dating pages, for everyone. This guy has reviewed over 500 sites since 1999. It's really comprehensive, and outlines each site in detail.

I found it fitting my first post, on this new online medium, be about, well, an online medium. I realize I've just scratched the surface. I'll post more in the future about my findings on our love affair with technology, and how we use it for those in real life – assuming we can drag ourselves away from the loving warmth of our computer screens and make it that far :). 

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