The “History” Of Online Dating

While Ronald Reagan and Michael J. Fox invented the Internet in the early 80’s, online dating has been around for almost ever. For as long as humans have felt the need to mate, many have recognized that finding an appropriate mate can be difficult. Originally, online dating was referred to as a personal classified ad in a newspaper. The first personal classified ad was placed around 1700 in Great Britain by Catholic priests looking for young boys to do the Lord’s “work.” Next thing you know, everybody and their mamas’ were placing a personal ad in The Daily Courant, albeit on the down low.

In the early days of what would become online dating, many people looked down upon those finding love in unconventional ways. They thought these people were looking for love in all the wrong places and that they would find no fine girls, simply ugly faces. In the 1700 and 1800’s if you had not managed to find a spouse by the age of 21, people would attach a stigma to you. Still, the losers of the sexual marketplace were not deterred. These men placed personal ads in newspapers and hired ‘matrimonial’ agencies to find wives.

“Online” Dating Begins To Take Off

When men began to have success finding love through the classifieds, women soon began to post ads themselves, not just responding. Then in 1841, Susan B. Anthony coined the commonly used term, “We’ll lie about how we met” to avoid being stigmatized while going about her whoring ways.

Soon factory workers were spilling stories of girls they met through the personal ads while on the job. Tales of conquests from the personal ads began to become similar. The tales usually started with the lady stating, “We’re not having sex” then later followed by a “I never do this” or an “I didn’t expect this to happen”, and finally ending with a “Usually I don’t do that.” The workers were baffled and wondered if they had been dating the same whore(s) women.

Once the 1900’s rolled around, the personal ad began to go mainstream. Not only did factory workers, railroad workers, and whores peruse them, many servicemen did as well. This ushered in more women to the ads. During World War 1, servicemen began placing personal ads for ‘pen pals’ and ‘friends’ when they were overseas and had eventually tired of shoring cheap Asian hookers.

Jump to WWII and modern online dating as we know it begins to take shape. In 1941, a statistics based matchmaking service opened up in New Jersey. Then in 1956 IBM created a computer based dating program ran by an IBM card-sorting machine similar to the one sold to Hitler for use in concentration camps. Rumor has it Marilyn Monroe and JFK matched up perfectly using this system.

Beginning Of The Modern Era

The 70’s saw the personal ads gain a large following, while video-dating services gained some mainstream popularity in the 80’s. Then, Bill Clinton unknowingly invented what we call modern online dating in 1995 when he sent an email to some secret Internet fatty (SIF) about getting a hummer in the oval office. While fat chicks have been giving great head since forever, once word that the SIF swallowed the presidents’ babies got out, online dating became the cool thing to do. According to Bill, the only reason he didn’t get impeached was because he showed enough congressmen how to get hummers from their interns by pressing ‘Ctrl+C’ and ‘Ctrl+V’. Although it all could have been avoided if it weren’t for the time he forgot Lewinsky had a gag reflex.

Alas, then in 1998, Tom Hanks starred in some rom-com about romantic emails and anal. While ‘You’ve Got Mail’ was a cinematic nightmare if you had male genitals, it propelled meeting a lover online into new heights. Now every ‘Sex & the City’ slag east of the Mississippi was trying to get their rocks off by finding their own Mr. Big through online dating.

The film worked wonders by erasing much of the negative stereotypes surrounding online dating. Influential people took note and realized there was money to be made in the online dating industry. With the rise of the ‘.Com’ bubble, online dating sites where popping up all over the Internet.

Online Dating Today

Fast forward to 2014 and online dating is everywhere. Your friends do it. Your colleagues do it. Hell, even your sister does it. It has been estimated that over 40 million Americans have tried online dating. The stigma surrounding online dating is all but completely eliminated.

While sites like Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, and Match.com brought online dating into the mainstream, Tinder finished the job. Tinder eliminated almost all strategy necessary for men to have success in dating online.  If a girl you found attractive and “swiped right” to does the same, you “match”.  Then you are allowed to message each other. A few quick messages and you get her number. Then it’s off to texting to set the date up.

While many older players still despise online dating, the fact remains that using the Internet to facilitate getting your dick wet is pretty fucking easy. The key to online dating is to not become dependent on it.

No matter what society says, its fucking weird if the only way you can meet girls is online. A man or an “alpha male” should meet women during his day-to-day life, when he goes out on the town for a night, and if he so chooses, by dating online. With online dating, as true in most areas of life, moderation is key. Still, it is tough to deny that online dating is a great tool for the budding player to use.

Read More: 6 Reason Why Online Dating Can Never Be As Good As Real Life