Long Relationships

1. If you’re not going through a dating site, then you’re probably going to be friends before you get into a romantic relationship.

2. If you are using a dating site, most sort people out with different criteria including age, likes/dislikes, hobbies, and other like things. You’ll find out as much, if not more, information from looking at someone’s profile than you might on a first blind date.

3. You don’t have to get dressed up to go out ‘cruising’ for people to meet. You can browse whenever you want, dressed however you want.

4. Your dating arena expands immensely. Instead of dating people who are in your town or even only in your state, you suddenly have world-wide opportunities to get out there. I found my love on the other side of the world - so can anyone else.

5. More time to talk. It’s a lot easier to pick out a time to sit at the computer than to pick a time, a place, what to wear, what to eat, what to do after, etc.

6. Privacy. You can have a lot more privacy online. If you’d rather have a few days, weeks, or months to get to know someone without half the state gossiping about you, then all you have to do is not tell them. (I know that sounds bad, but it is a valid point in the positive.)

7. This is also going to sound bad, but online relationships are easier to manage in terms of starting and ending. In the beginning, if you don’t like someone’s profile, then you can send a ‘no’ or ‘ignore’ response. Further on, there are ways of making sure you don’t have to deal with the jilted lover hanging around. (Blocking emails, etc.)

8. Things to do! There are tons of things to do online. From pool to poker, there are a lot of sites and games out there for mutual playing/viewing/etc.

9. Pictures. When you exchange pictures, you don’t have to worry about looking bloated on the first impression or have a sudden fear because you don’t have time to shave. You can put up your best pictures. (Don’t put up fake photos. It will just get you in a lot of trouble and probably make you lose the relationship if you do.)

10. More on getting to know each other. When you have an online relationship, you’re more inclined to get to know each other by asking questions. You’ll ask about favourite foods and past times instead of worrying about getting into each other’s pants.

11. With web cams and free phone/microphone conversations available on the web, you can do (and get used to) pretty much everything before you meet in person. You can take things as slow or fast as you want without getting all kinds of pheromones and body language in the way first.

12. It’s all about communication! If you have an online relationship first, you need to be able to impress and communicate. Given how important communication is in a relationship, this is a step up from the usual dating scene.

13. …because when you’ve held an online relationship for a good amount of time, meeting each other in person for the first times is one of the most amazing feelings you’ll ever have.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens on Fiction Scribe and The Book Stacks