Monday, May 30, 2011

Online and Traditional Dating

This post is dedicated to my little brother whom I promised if he received a good grade on this assignment I would post it. Congrats Noel I am so proud of you and your intelligent mind.


Online and traditional dating are options that society has created as well as taught for interacting with each other. In today’s social environment, online dating is favoured among people especially the younger generation because it is not as time consuming as planning a date or putting in the effort to go out and get to know someone. In my opinion, traditional dating is more interactive and effective on a personal level. When it comes to socializing, personal relationships and occupying your time, I believe traditional dating is a better option than online dating.

With traditional dating socializing is more genuine because you have the opportunity to receive and experience the feedback of body language and the natural laws of attraction when interacting with a person. For instance something as simple as eye contact can introduce or initiate an attraction, it is a physical action that shows interest or may get your attention of a person without using words. Another advantage of socializing with traditional dating is having conversations face to face. In doing so, the tone of voice and expression of the face and use of body language that is presented can tell the individual if they are joking or if they are serious, so there is no room for misinterpretation. With online dating face to face contact is lacking the personal chemistry between the two people. With the bases of online interaction being through messages it is more common for people to read into or misunderstand the message behind the message. Also with using online as a source of dating it is less likely for someone to see the reaction from a person from something that was said or from their overall presentation whether it is how he or she is dressed, how they talk or any other meeting of preference.

In addition, personal relationships manifest a bond that is in my opinion unachievable when using the internet as a tool to build a strong relationship. In comparison to online dating over a period of time or with a few encounters of face to face interaction trust is something that is developed naturally and much faster between two people. A sense of security can be created which can help the person’s social skills for future encounters or potential dates, which will better them as an individual. With online dating, bonding is not as fast as facet to face interacting. As mentioned with face to face interaction, you have feedback such as tone and body language to let you decide if you like someone or not, if you have anything in common, if you can relate to he or she’s sense of humour, and you can also get a better idea of who they are as a person whereas the online dating’ format is a letter or message without vocalized personality.

Comparably, occupying your time with traditional dating encourages you to get to know someone in an old fashioned sense. For example if you are in a coffee shop and you notice someone attractive sitting by themselves, you may feel an urge to go over and introduce yourself but before you do so you will make it a point to check that you look presentable, the result of initiating this action is it can lead to a date and a relationship may grow. Yet online dating options take away the pressure of how you may come across to the person. When sitting behind a computer, how you look and talk does not matter which creates a false sense of who a person may be, whereas face to face is what you see is what you get.

In conclusion, traditional dating is more beneficial for experiencing the chemistry, honesty and natural growth as an individual and between two people which cannot be experienced through online dating. It can also do more for a person’s self-esteem and help better them to deal with the natural routine that life presents to us when dealing with one another.

NOEL JARDINE