[Note from Frolic: We’re so excited to have author Lisa Becker guest posting on the site today! She’s talking all things online dating. Take it away, Lisa!]
This is my Superbowl! Today is Valentine’s Day and as writer of love stories, my heart is aflutter with all things romance from flowers and chocolates to candlelit dinners and moonlit walks.
If you’re not feeling a love connection today, might I suggest you try online dating. Before you scoff, hear me out. People today are “married” to their cell phones and laptops, so why not use that technology to really get married, right? Not surprising, Valentine’s Day sees a spike in online dating.
And it worked for me. After finding it difficult to make the right connection through blind dates and friend set ups or at the gym, bar, coffee shop or grocery aisle, I was persuaded to hop online. My husband and I met twenty years ago when online dating was in its infancy. But the benefits I found then remain the same:
On Your Own Terms
Online dating provides a relaxed, anytime and on your own terms experience. Share as little or as much information as you want. Avoid people you are not interested in. Communicate at your convenience. But, don’t send a message at 2:30 am. Nothing smacks more of desperation than an email from someone trolling the Internet for a date in the wee hours of the morning.
Multi-Tasking Enabled
Flirt while filing your taxes. Chat and trim your nails. Meet a mate while making breakfast. It’s a well-known fact that women are great multi-taskers. Take full advantage of that skill. As Shelley, an over-sexed character in one of my novels says, “A whole host of hot and horny single men that I can review, chat with, judge and mock – all while sitting in my office looking very busy. Maybe I should give it a try myself.”
Trade the “Meat Market” for the “Meet Market”
Now you can avoid the “meat market” scene of bars and clubs and instead enjoy a “meet market” – an international bazaar (but let’s hope not too bizarre) of prospective mates. Online dating allows you to make an online introduction to thousands if not millions of people around the world. So, if you want to meet someone in Katmandu, well then, can do!
Save Time, Money and Energy
Let’s face it. Dating isn’t cheap. It takes time, money and, likely your most valuable and scarce resource, energy. With the “try before you buy” environment of online dating, you don’t have to meet for a drink, grab a coffee or sit through a long dinner only to discover there’s no physical attraction, you have nothing in common, conversation is lacking, etc.
Rejection Made Easy
In one of my books, a character gets an email from someone halfway across the world looking to meet someone willing to move for him. After sending a polite and diplomatic “thanks but no thanks” email message, she proclaims to her friend, “It’s so much easier to reject someone over that Internet than in real life. Score one for online dating!” While rejection is easier for both parties when done online, it’s important to remember that people still have feelings.
Have a great online dating story? Come tell me on Instagram or through my website.