COMP 2903A16 – Romance in the

Information AgeDanny Silver

JSOCS, Acadia University

Christine RosenThe New Atlantis, Winter, 2004

Love and the Internet

• “They [the technologies] change not simly how we find our beloved, but what kind of beloved we hope to find”

• What role should technology play in affairs of the heart?

Love and the Internet

• So .. Does anyone know of a couple who met over the Internet?

• Did it work?

Technologies that Have Contributed to Personal Relationships

• The automobile• The phone• Contraceptives• Is the Internet more of the same?• Strict manners giving way to the informal• Has courtship declined?• Has this improved things for us?• Marriage … what’s the stats on this?

The Modern Courtship

• Meeting locals is not the only game• Huge population of working singles• Seemingly have less in-person time for

courtship• How do we resolve this?

Technological Impact Transparency -vs- Privacy

• Technology erodes traditional boundaries• Enables and promote 2 detrimental forces– Demand for total transparency– Bias toward the over-sharing of personal

information

Transparency: Good or Evil

• WARNING: Google before dating!• But .. technological transparency does not

always guarantee trust• Have you considered Spyware to record your

X-friends keystrokes

Love as a Source of Income

• Reality TV loves Love and Relationships– The Bachelor, The Bachelorette– Beauty and the Nerd– Bridezilla– Disclosure of private acts is apparently worth $$$–

Internet Dating Sources

• Blogs - http://quigley.netfirms.com/• Online dating … Is it different than traditional

dating? How so?

Modern-Day Matchmakers

• A booming business - $302M in 2002• 50% of US population has claimed to have

visited sites such as:– http://www.match.com/– http://www.flirt.com/– http://www.matchmaker.com/mm/dating/

novascotia-wolfville.htm

New Challenges in the Online World

• I found my soul mate .. Now how do I get my name off the list ???

• Stigma of having met on the Internet• New etiquette must be learned– “I can’t believe I am buying this book” a book

about how to present oneself on the Web

Can we Scientifically find Love? Match people? Discover ourselves?

• The ultimate double date with your laptop and its dating software

• http://onlinedatingpost.com/archives/2005/03/weattractcom_inc_announces_science_advisory_board/

• “Discover your instinctual preferences”

• Try one of these tests out:– http://www.teststeststests.com/personalitytest/

Stop the insanity !!!

Eharmony.com

• Fall in love for the right reasons• Scientifically-proven set of compatibility

principles – 29 dimensions• 35 years of emperical and clinical research• A good match is more scientific than art• Do you believe this is true?

How’s this changing our world?

• Is the review of a dossier better than an initial glance across the classroom or bar followed by conversation?

• Hector Jose Huyke writes that technology introduces major new elements that effect our choices in love and war

• Things that are now easily accessible change our demands on each other

• Old pathways are eliminated – “Just send me an email”, “Check out my FaceBook page”.

Technology and Love

• The new alchemy

• Goethe wrote:– “Work hard to encourage the beautiful, for the

useful encourages itself”– What did he mean?