New Research Says Online Dating Sites Actually Work, I Believe It Because I Make All My Friends Online Now

I somehow managed to miss the whole online dating ship. My current relationship of seven years and last relationship of five butted right up against each other. Twelve years ago, people weren’t really using dating sites like they are now. It wasn’t something that even crossed my mind. Today, one in ten Americans have used an online dating site, and of those one in ten, twenty-three percent have met a spouse or long term partner.

I used to think the concept of meeting someone online was totally weird. I insisted you needed to be face-to-face with someone to see if you are actually compatible. I was completely wrong about that. I can’t speak to making romantic relationships online, but ever since I started writing on the Internet I have made friends who I am certain I am compatible with – and these are all people I have never met face-to-face.

My editor, Eve Vawter, is one of them. We’ve been “talking” on Skype every week for the last year. Yes, a lot of it is work-related, but we gossip and tell stories about our children and make fun of people. She sends my kids gifts on their birthdays. I certainly consider her a friend – a really good one. I have no idea what she looks like. I’d probably walk right by her in the street because I’ve only seen a couple pictures of her.

Similarly, there are fellow bloggers I have come to know and love simply through their writing. There are readers who I am certain I would be fast friends with if we met in person. Now that I am living in a state where I have yet to make friends, most of my socializing is done in this capacity. I feel like I have friends, even though I don’t actually “know” any of these people.

So I finally get it. Years of not understanding how you could possibly meet, fall in love and build a family with someone that you met online all came to an end when I started socializing with people online myself. Disqus should start a dating site. Seriously. I would know in a second if I wanted to go on a date with someone by reading the last 10 comments they made.

(photo: Syda/ Shutterstock)