by: Shayla Monet Corprew
Introduction

In this age of the Internet, everything seems fast paced and no-nonsense. Even human interaction seems to have a become a shadow of its former self. Sherry Turkle's Life On the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet notices that "As players participate, they become authors not only of text, but of themselves, constructing new selves through social interaction (Turkle 12)." So, it seems that instead of potential daters having to experience that terrible first date, they can now reinvent themselves and become that suave, good-looking person that they always wanted to be. Instead of sitting in shame after a particularly terrible comment about the weather, a person can in fact test-drive their first date. In fact, more and more daters are deciding to "date" a person online before meeting them in person.

There seems to be much public use of the online dating world. About 31% of American adults say they know someone who has used a dating website and 15% of American adults—about 30 million people—say they know someone who has been in a long-term online relationship or married someone they met online. Many studies show that three out of four internet users who are single and looking for a romantic partner have done at least one dating-related activity online. Some 11% of all internet users and 37% of those who are single and looking say they have gone to dating websites. A notable number of these online daters have found firsthand that lasting romance is attainable online; 17% of them say they have entered long-term relationships or married someone they met through these dating services. Although online dating is becoming more common, there are still concerns about the dangers of posting personal information on dating sites and about the honesty of those who pursue online dating. (Information from www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=177 )

A study at the University of California at Berkeley further addresses the phenomenon of online courtship.