Internet dating has had a stigma attatched to it, ever since 1982 when the first recorded marriage of an internet dating couple took place in Chicago.
Their newsworthy courtship and wedding were featured on numerous television programs and newspaper articles, including a Chicago newspaper story titled “Cupid and Computers Conquer All.” But not everybody accepted their relationship with an open mind – many people said a relationship based on online dating wouldn’t last.
These days of course, a couple finding love online is hardly newsworthy. But in 1982, online dating was charting new territory, and seemed very alien to many. A very suspicious concept, to even be communicating like that. There was definitely a stigma with online dating.
That was about thirty years ago and you will find that sometimes it’s still very much the same today. Couples have to put up with a great deal of critique from others who hold onto a stigma about online dating. Singles currently finding love online, and couples have sometimes felt compelled to hide the fact that they are members of an online dating site.
It’s Called Stigma.
During a Sunday school function, a group of newly wed wives were each asked, “How did you two meet?” Going around the circle, each woman took a moment to tell her romantic story. Then it was time for Tracy to speak up: “We met over the Internet.”
A moment of silence hovered over the group. “Online Dating? Really!” the teacher said. “Why would an attractive, outgoing girl like you need to resort to such drastic measures?”
That’s called “stigma” – a socially discrediting means of classifying others as going against the norm. It’s an undesirable stereotype and it conjures up disapproval, disgrace and shame. And the stigma of online dating associated with finding love online is based on uninformed impressions.
This Sunday school teacher is a perfect example of someone perpetuating an uneducated social stigma of online dating and using the Internet for finding love. Online dating has turned a corner over the past several years, and truth be told, this was an exchange that took place more than a decade ago. Today, these misinformed impressions about online dating are few and far between.
So if you’re embarrassed by an out-of-date stigma of online dating, you’ve somehow become stuck in a fleeting notion that died out years ago. Yes, it used to be that finding love online was looked at with suspicion. So was nearly everything about the internet. Most people scoffed at the visionary idea of using our computers to buy shoes, download music, or book a hotel room. So why in the world would you be interested in finding love online?
Of course, that was then, and this is now. Today the stigma of online dating has all but vanished. Practically everyone knows someone who has found the love of their life with online dating. Even well known celebrities talk about using Match Making sites to find love. Sure, there are still some uninformed holdouts that perpetuate the stigma of online dating, but their numbers are dwindling.
The point is that online dating these days is viewed as socially acceptable even among many of the people who were perhaps the most suspicious of finding love online a few short years ago.
Online Dating is now Hyper-Mainstream
“The stigma of online dating has definitely dropped because people are advocating for it, talking with their friends about it, and sharing stories with families”.
It has displaced all other forms of dating, when it comes to finding a partner.
So if you are embarrassed by a passé prejudice against finding love online with online dating, do your best to move beyond it. Swallow your irrational pride, and the outdated stigma you’re holding onto will disappear.
To visit Adult Match Maker’s online dating website in Australia, click on the link located directly below this video…
And thanks for watching.