A friend and I had a conversation recently about dating.

As single as a one dollar bill, I explained over afternoon cups of tea that I was thinking to start online dating again.

This statement was met with a look of surprise. "Online dating?" he asked. "But why would you need to do that? Surely
you don't have trouble meeting men."

"It's LA. Everyone has trouble meeting everyone. Besides, alot of people date online. It's really just not a big deal anymore." I explained, surprised to hear that someone still considered online dating to be taboo.

And then suddenly, my mind went to another place....To a place where there was no internet.

A place called....the 90s.

I was but a girl of 14 in the era pre-internet.

It was a dark age, a time before cell phones were mainstream and when girls and guys were forced into face-to-face interaction.

That's right. In my day, "chat rooms" were just cafe's or bars were you'd meet someone and engage in a conversation. None of this sitting at a computer and talking to other people through their computers kind of business. No sir-ee!

Back then, if you wanted to get to know someone, there were no social networking pages to stalk.

You had to be creative enough to worm your way into their social circle, corner them somewhere, and just plain converse. FACE TO FACE. Or, if they lived far away, it would be via phone call or by letter.

That's right. Back then we had to spend 30 cents to send our thoughts via paper to someone else and then we had to wait at least a few days time to receive back a letter to hear their response.

There was no LOL or LMFAO or IM'ing of each other. There was no or or )'ing. We had to actually sit or stand
in front of each other and make those faces in person so that someone knew how we felt about something.

Internet dating, what was once a taboo thing in the earlier part of the 21st century and the 1990s, was most commonly thought of as "unsafe".  It was looked down upon as a way for weirdos, nerds and murderers to connect with people.

It was thought of as a "last resort" for those who suffered many failed attempts at meeting people the old fashioned way.

No, I'm not talking about video dating or making out with someone at a bar, only to wake up in the morning with a hangover
and a phone number smeared across your hand. I'm talking about meeting people out-and-about or through other people or organizations.

But as time progressed, websites became more advanced and people became more curious and lazy. Now, online
dating has become mainstream!


Sure, there may still be  weirdos, nerds and murderers online, but there are also some non-weirdos, non-nerds and non-murderers, just waiting to meet you! And what you will all already have in common is that you like the convenience of dating without having to venture into a crowded, dimly lit bar or church to meet them.

As someone who has done her share of online dating, in this new year I offer a few words of wisdom to those who are taking that giant leap over to their Iphone or laptop to create an online dating profile:

1. Never exchange emails with someone for more then 2 weeks max. The longer you wait to meet in person, the more time you waste exchanging information with someone that you may not be attracted to in real life. Remember: Meeting someone online is just a stepping stone to meeting them in person. No matter how witty they are in emails or hot they are in their profile pics, you will really never know if you "mesh well" or have chemistry until you meet in person.

2.  Don't add someone as a "friend" on facebook or myspace just because you've exchanged a few emails and they seem cool. Believe me, the last thing you want is to meet someone, not feel a connection, and then to feel pressured into having to keep in contact with them. This brings me to...

3.  Thou shalt not give out thy phone number to someone they have never met in person. While it's true that you can tell a lot about a person by their voice, you don't want to have someone continuously text or call you if you turn out not to be interested, or, almost as bad, if you never even end up physically meeting.

4.  Don't put up old ass pics of yourself. People will eventually meet you, and if you have been "false advertising", they will not have been attracted to the real you.

5. Always meet for the first time or two in public places. Screw (or rather, don't) those people who insist on you meeting at their place the first time or even on picking you up. Safety first and while there are a lot of cool, normal people online, there are douche bags and weirdos too. A cool, normal person would never insist on meeting you alone or on picking you up. They get that safety comes first and don't take it personally.

Happy New Year to Everybody!