Does this seem like a good way to sell a dating service? True.com thinks so. These ads caught my eye, since they run on my work's Web site, and their radio ads are running in the D.C. area. They make dating seem pretty grim, as if the first thing you need to consider is whether the person is an axe-murderer.
Somebody decided a few months ago that 2004 would be the Year of the Internet Dating Service, because they're everywhere now, including sites like National Review Online. At least True.com isn't as misleading as the other dating services advertised on the Web, who take a stock photo of a pretty model and slap a lame slogan under it, hoping that people will sign up. This is pretty dishonest: young, attractive women don't generally have a problem getting dates, do they?
I guess it's a testimony to the anomie of modern life that we have so many technologies to connect ourselves to each other, yet apparently lots of people can't find a suitable mate without resorting to a computerized bureaucracy. I don't blame them, really -- maybe I'd use a dating service if I were single -- but it's a small indication of how the tendency toward idolizing personal freedom, so common in America, does not produce happier people.
One useful kind of internet dating services are those for orthodox Catholics. I wouldn't have believed it myself until a couple of my male friends found beautiful, orthodox women who are now their wives. Such a service is especially useful for those who live in remote locales or even cities where there aren't strong communities of single adult ortho-Catholics.
Good point, Beregond. I would imagine that for other faith communities where members are strongly encouraged to marry within their belief system -- such as Orthodox Jews -- the Internet must be very helpful indeed.