Dating in the Digital Age

Dating in the Digital Age

By Kate Marie Robbins

Where do you find a relationship when you live in a small town, work in a field that is primarily dominated by the same sex as you, and the bar scene isn’t your cup of tea? I didn’t meet my husband in high school or even college like most people do. So where does someone like me turn to? In this day and age, the only viable option for someone like me is the internet. We all have our own reasons for choosing for using sites such as Plenty of Fish, Match, Tinder, Facebook, Meetme, etc. to find dates and none of those reasons are wrong.

There is so much stigma still in using the internet for dating and I don’t understand this.  If you’re being safe about what you’re doing, which is key, then it shouldn’t matter where you meet people. It baffles me that some people automatically assume that just because you met someone online that there must be something wrong with them. I decided to write this to try to help try to break the stigma behind online dating and long distance relationships that sometimes result because of meeting online.

I’ve made so many close friends over the years because of the internet and that’s before you even factor in romantic relationships. And yes, a majority of my romantic relationships have been because of online dating. With my situation, it just makes it easier, because of what I spoke of briefly and a few other reasons. I met my current boyfriend in 2016 on a social media app called Meetme. We hit it off instantly and a few days later he asked if I would be his girlfriend. To some this might have been rushing things, but to us it felt right. A year later, we’re planning for me to move to England to live with him. You never know where you’ll find the love of your life. Or even just some great friends.

I did a few brief interviews via Facebook to get some stories from others who have used the internet for dating. A few didn’t find their happily ever after, but a few did! I hope this sheds some light and gives you a glimpse into what it’s truly like.

Lori M said, “I met Dan on a dating app, but we talked on the phone for three weeks before meeting in person and dated for seven months and remain good friends after the breakup. I am glad to have met him.”

Kathy C. told me, “Pablo and I met on MySpace November of 2005. He was looking to move to the area of Texas that I lived and we started talking and texting. It grew into a lot more and we fell in love. Texas ultimately didn’t work out for him and he moved back to Chicago. We did the long distance thing again for six months until he came back for me and moved me up there. We were together for 3 years and it was the outcome of his court hearing that drove us apart and there were things he didn’t wanna drag me through. In the long run, it ended up being for the best. We’ve both moved on, but have still remained the best of friends.”

Liz P. said, “I met my hubby on yahoo chat at age fifteen and we met for the first time when I was seventeen. The day I turned eighteen I moved to be with him. Five years later we got married and have two kids. We just celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary this year.”

Theresa S. shared, “Chris and I met on Facebook in September of 2009. He lived in NYC at the time. We had been talking on the phone and Skyping on a daily basis. It wasn’t long after we decided we wanted to be more than just friends. After a few months of talking we decided to meet up. In June of 2010 he made the first move and came here to Minnesota. For the next few months we were flying back and forth between NYC and Minnesota. On October 1st of that same year we decided to tie the knot in NYC. I stayed with him over there for a few months before we decided to move back to Minnesota. We have been happily married now for a little over seven years and have two beautiful baby girls! I wouldn’t ask for it any other way. It’s been the best journey of my life!”

Jen R. said, “My fiance and I met when we were teenagers in a Yahoo chat room, he lived in Georgia and I in Minnesota. A few years later he moved to Wisconsin. We became great friends over the years. We were friends for more than fifteen years before we met in person. We met for the first time in person when he was in my area for a concert. And after that we grew even closer and a month later my sister and I went out to his area and we met up again and we kissed and said we loved each other. And a week later we were dating. And a month after that he was living with me. He is my best friend, my lover, my soulmate and my life.”