Internet Dating is Now the Norm

Online dating has not only shed its stigma, it has surpassed all forms of matchmaking in the United States other than meeting through friends. According to one industry estimate, social networking attracted 25 million unique users around the world in April 2011 alone.

In the early 1990s, less than 1% of the population met partners through printed personal advertisements or other commercial intermediaries. By 2005, among single adults Americans who were Internet users and currently seeking a romantic partner, 37% had dated online. According to recent research, in 2007-2009, 22% of heterosexual couples and 61% of same-sex couples had found their partners through the web. Those percentages are likely to be even larger today.

Psychologist Harry Reis says, "Online dating is definitely a new and much needed twist on relationships. The Internet holds great promise for helping adults form healthy and supportive romantic partnerships, and those relationships are one of the best predictors of emotional and physical health."

But online love has its pitfalls. Comparing dozens and sometimes hundreds of possible dates may encourage a "shopping" mentality in which people become judgmental and picky, focusing exclusively on a narrow set of criteria like attractiveness or interests. And corresponding by computer for weeks or months before meeting face-to-face has been shown to create unrealistic expectations.

When it comes to online dating, men and women behave differently. A 2010 study of 6,485 users of a major online dating site found that men viewed three times more profiles than women did. And men were approximately 40% more likely to initiate contact with a woman after viewing her profile than women were after viewing a man’s profile. This sounds pretty familiar to us–so maybe the internet hasn’t changed dating habits much after all! In the words of one (male) online dater: "Where else can you go in a matter of 20 minutes (and) look at 200 women who are single and want to go on dates?"

Let’s face it: Ever since Adam and Eve, men and women have had different agendas. In Whitley’s Room, just for subscribers, there are now several short (15 min.) discussions by Whitley Strieber on bible verses. One of them is on the opening lines of Genesis (you’ve never heard an interpretation like THIS before)! Another is on the REAL meaning of the "marriage feast at Cana."

In another, Whitley Strieber talks about how the Romans saw Jesus, and uses the gospels and his deep knowledge of Roman history to explain what Jesus meant to them and why they executed him, and why they did it in the precise way that they did.