Why is Online Dating Still a Taboo??

It’s 2009. We are all on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We find our apartments online, our jobs online, and we shop online. We order food online, we keep in touch with friends and family who live far away online, and we look for pets online. 

So why is it “weird” to shop for a significant other online in an age when everything else in our lives is online?

Well, I don’t really think it is. Maybe that’s because I know several couples who are happily married or engaged to the person they met online. But why is it that my friends who do the online dating thing feel the need to look around and then whisper when they say “match.com” or “eharmony“??

I mean honestly-who cares?! 

Although I have not been a member of an online dating community, I see its benefits for young professionals. Why? Because after dating a handful of people, you get to a point where you know exactly what you want. Also, our time and patience is limited. Meeting someone at a bar who has your values and goals is probably much less likely than being able to go online and say “non-smoker, x religion, taller than x, wants/doesn’t want kids” or whatever your criteria are.

From there, it’s all you.  Online dating just gives you a jumping off point to get what you want. There will still be a lot of people who you don’t click with, or who pretend to be someone they aren’t. Sounds surprisingly similar to “real life dating,” doesn’t it?

Maybe online dating just needs some good PR or celebrity success stories so people start openly discussing it the way they discuss Facebook and Twitter.

What are your thoughts? Why is online dating still taboo?