Ethnography Update

So, without even finishing my full eHarmony profile, they have already set me up with over 48 new matches and I've started to learn some new things about this online dating site. Everday I'm getting at least 7 emails with someone who could be my perfect match. I don't even have a picture up yet, so Im assuming these matches are made by the information I gave. That seems to be what the point of the site is, but why match me with over 48 new people when they can't even see what I look like...I guess looks aren't anything these days?...YEA RIGHT! Once I upload a picture we'll see which matches actually email and which ones dont.

I do have the choice to "send a message" to one of my matches. This is when they show me the persons complete profile(minus their picture). You must sign up and pay the monthly or yearly membership to view the picture. I also have the option of sending him 5 questions out of a choice of 57, that I would want him to answer to get to know him better. Oh yea, and you can also send one "icebreaker" for free, which is things that range from "you profile brought a smile to my face today" to "it seems like we live close, lets chat"


This is all what eHarmony calls "guided communication", where they basically guide you through the steps on how to communicate with another human being. Seems odd to me so far?

Facebook Pedophile?

FACEBOOK ACCUSATIONS?

In one of my earlier classes today, our teacher showed us a recent case in Douglas, Georgia about a thirteen year old student who was suspended for writing on her facebook that one of her teachers was a pedophile. After her family got upset and accused the school of "invading her privacy" her suspension was revoked. Do students have the right to say whatever they want on their facebook about their teachers? Calling someone in power, like a teacher, a pedophile could RUIN them! The father of another student stated in the following video that it was all in "conversation...we all say things in conversation that we shouldnt". While that is true, we DO all say things in conversation that aren't always true or moral  HOWEVER it should be the parents job to teach their children the fine line between what you SAY in conversation and what you POST or WRITE for anyone to see. We are old enough to know that if you have something bad to say you SAY it, because if you WRITE it you face more sever consequences. Do you think the school was right for revoking the girls suspension? Read the case for yourself and watch the video. What do you think?

Article...http://newmagazineblog.com/2011/03/georgia-middle-school-students-disciplined-after-calling-teacher-%E2%80%98pedophile%E2%80%99-on-facebook/


Video...http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/douglas-co-students-disciplined-over-facebook-post-030111

eHarmony Ethnography

So, as part of my class I have to do an ethnography>>>for my ethnography I'm going to dive into the online dating world and see what I find. I want to find if people are honest, genuine and who the site matches me with. I'm curious as to see if I'm going to be matched with someone just like me, with the same interests and beliefs. Typically, this is what makes a good "match", but how many couples do you know that are almost exactly alike and all they do is fight and bicker as a result? I'm also not single, so I'm curious as to see if people on this site will be able to figure that out, and will I be able to tell if someone I'm matched with REALLY is single? You can check out my eHarmony profile if you want...(I did however change my name to Janelle, I figured while I'm living in this online dating world I might as well change something about myself...so why not my name? Just about everything else I tried to be completely honest with!)

http://www.eharmony.com/singles/servlet/user/aboutme/profilepreview

Online Dating For Kids and Teenagers?

DOES ONLINE DATING HAVE AN AGE LIMIT? YOU WOULD THINK SO....

I thought one of the main arguments as to why online dating is so useful is because it allows a way for MATURE ADULTS to find a compatible match because they no longer feel comfortable going out to bars or randomly searching for their soulmate? So, why is it that when i "google" search online dating I have the choice of searching "online dating for kids", "online dating for college students", and "online dating for teenagers". So I explored these sites to see for myself what in the world is an online dating site for a tennager like? Don't they have facebook to share their lives on...I think they are sharing a lot more on these sites than facebook. We don't see these commercials on tv saying "1 out of 5 teen pregnancies began on teenage dating sites". That sounds like a crazy statistic, but after you read you might not think its to far fetched.

This site even advertises that some teens that have met on their site ended up getting married! Is this SERIOUS?http://www.chatpit.com/teenchat/


Of course most of these teen dating sites are just chat rooms and innocent fun. Is it really innocent though? How many stories do we hear about teenagers having sex too young and now they send half naked and naked photos of themselves via text and internet? Aren't these sites feeding that fad?

This site even has a rating on who is the best looking!...(a lot like what Mark Zuckerberg did with the college females) Teens can do anything on this site from chat to look at pictures of fellow young obviously under 18 year old friends and rate if they are "hot or not" or they can just simply share music and blog on the site. It's a site totally dedicated to teens! Which is an okay thing to have, since most teens use the internet...but an online dating site for teens where they can post pictures of themselves and rate them "hot or not"? It seems like a risky facebook almost.
http://www.mylol.net/ Some kids on these sites look 12 years old and some look like they are in their twenties! It sickened me to read the blog postings on the site...they are vulgar and talk about things that I didnt even know the meaning of until I was in college!


Are online dating and teen chat sites like mylol.net and chatpit.com making it easier for socially awkward kids to make friends? I don't think so, if you really look at these sites and explore you will most likely find what I have found and that is, that these sites are allowing younger and younger kids to post inappropriate photos, engage in conversation that shouldnt even be thought of and to misuse their freedom of the internet. Do parents know their kids are putting pictures on ONLINE DATING WEBSITES that potential sexual predators can easily look at???

Dating Websites...Will they last?

Are online dating websites something that will continue to grow OR will they fade out?

We hear all types of statistics about how useful online dating is in finding the perfect match. I can go almost anywhere and bring up online dating and hear a sweet fairytale but true personal story about how a couple met online. As it turn out, it is hard to argue why you don't agree with online dating; however, I've found a new angle on the whole online dating thing. I'm not for or against it although I would never expect myself to choose those methods, neither can a lot of college students like myself. Anyway, when I thought about it I started to wonder if online dating is something that will continue to grow or if it is simple a dating fad of our time-like arranged marriages in our culture or marriage at the age of 13 where back in the day! I also wonder, with such a high divorce rate now- will future generations even bother trying to find love or try to completely avoid marriage? My generation (18-25) has seen divorce, whether it be in our own family, the kid we grew up to next door or the kids in our Science class, we've seen it. Our generation is used to seeing marriages and relationships fall apart, so will we even reach out for online dating like the older generations do? I don't think our generation is rushing to get married. No doubt, babies will still be born from our generation, but marriage will be something of negativity and RED FLAGS. So, why would online dating continue? Most online daters are of the "older" generation. Will we continue their path or find new ways to meet the love of our life?

This chart shows you WHY people in our generation might continue the trend of online dating... How can you deny the results?

No matter how amazing and guarnteed the statistics might be, I still think my generation is not ready to find the "love of our life" online. All I'm saying is, everyone is online, mix it up and find your true love walking down Main Street or enaging in love-at-first-SIGHT chemistry.