Never Knowing

MEETING AND DATING online may be more than its cracked up to be. During the early years of the internet, the practice was highly criticized, as millions of americans gave it a try, experienced all kinds of grand adventures, and often left with little to show for it.

But a new study, by the online dating serive e harmony, with independent oversight, reveals that of american marriages consumated between 2005 and 2012, the ones whose partners met online have a lower divorce rate than those which began in old fashioned ways, with face to face first impressions.

Why would this be? Perhaps people looking for long term love online simply look harder, are more serious about it, more open about who they are, and more eager and willing to commit. Perhaps online dating services really do provide a sound, sensible, scientific basie for long term pair formation. Of course, the forst thought that comes to mind is; most marriages formed between 2005 and 2102 have not really had enough time to send in divorce, yet.

My online social experiences took place between 2000 and 2005, the era of chatrooms and AOL instant messaging, and what i ogt out of it was a lot of material bor a book, many interesting experiences, and a lot of stress and anxiety. I decided right from the first that my purpose was to gather information for a book, which i did. But i also got involved, somewhat.

I found the distances prohibitive. Not long after I got my first computer hooked up, signed on to aol, and started in with the chatrooms and meeting women, i decided that traveling to meet people would be out of teh question for me, except in very special circumstances, in which a particular relationship advanced so well that meeting seemed necessary. That never happened. It came close, but it never happened.

then too I had too many girlfriends online. Hell, I had 'em all over the country, liked 'em all, saw no reason to give up on any of them; but never really honed in on any of 'em. To this day I rtemember many of them, and wonder whatever happened to this or that gal; knowing i will never know.

Back in my day, chatrooms were the place to be, and not just any chatrrom, aol chatrooms. And there were thousands of them, for every occasion or situation or interest. Chatrooms for people in their thirties. Chatrooms for sports people. Chatrooms for love, chatrooms for sex, chatrooms for everything.

You'd meet 'em in the chatrooms, and getting them out of the room, and into an instant message, was the overching goal. To get a person of interest alond in an instant message was evuivalent to getting her in your car. along, in the nineteen fifties, at a drive in theatre.Those of you under fifty are encouraged to check wickipedia topic "drive in movie theatres".

but that seems to be all gone now, as aol declined, and folks lost interest in chat rooms and went to facebook. Chatrooms, though, are like drive in movies and vynal LP records; a great idea which was perhpas prematurely cast aside by american society, and may, due to the vaunted american ability to make new things out of old, someday rise again to the preeminance they once enjoyed.

Of course, nowadays, if you just know somebody's name...but....no.