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Modern Dating
In theory the Internet creates possibilities.
Instead of our romantic lives being limited to those we may meet at work or during social activities (if anyone actually has these, anymore…) we can upload a profile of ourselves and begin to look through thousands of potential matches.
According to statistics more than forty percent of couples today have met online.
And yet…
In reality, most people on dating sites don’t actually want to meet.
What they want is approbation. They want the tiny jolts of dopamine that come from someone out there showing approval. They want text messages or right-swipes or winks or whatever.
To get this approbation a lot of folk are using pictures taken ten or more years ago. They’re using filters to get rid of wrinkles or blemishes. They’re enlarging their eyes and lips and shrinking their noses and chins. They’re subtracting ten years from their age. Weirdly, many women are adorning themselves with childish cartoon noses, ears, and all manner of other infantile additions as though they were auditioning for a role in a kindergarten play.
In addition there’s all the expected distortions: if female they’re subtracting several kilos from their weight and if male they are adding several centimeters to their height.
