This is real. We're Facebook-Official.

Okay, so as if the world of flirting/dating/hooking up in dark corners wasn’t already confusing enough, we now have Facebook thrown in the mix. You can poke the cutie from Calculus, send some racy “private messages,” and maybe even send a condom or two his way.

But when you actually really like the guy, and have even gone on a couple dates (aka met for lunch in the caf or taken a stroll through the plaza) the whole Facebook situation gets ten times more complicated.

And that brings us to the “relationship status.”  It sits in the corner of our profiles taunting us. “You’re still single??” it screams (accompanied by Facebook ads luring you to Match.com). But when you are seeing someone it’s even worse, nagging you day after day. “Are you official yet?! It’s been a month! Come on already!”

I don’t know how I feel about this little option. I won’t deny that it’s exciting to finally make the official switch to “in a relationship,” but the extra pressure it adds to my love life is a major negative.

Obviously, I’m torn.

Love It:

The fact that making a relationship Facebook official clears up a significant amount of issues surrounding a new relationship. First of all, there is none of that sitting up late at night with your roommate, dissecting his text messages and the way he hugged you goodbye. Does he want a commitment? Is he not sure? Of course he’s sure! He just changed his relationship status!  It sort of brings us back to those Pleasantville days when a guy simply pinned his girl and that was that; when you have been “Facebook officialed” you’re a couple. Done.

Ah, dating has become so black and white. Read More »

I’ve learned a ton of useful things at college, and I hate to say (sorry Mom and Dad) that most of most of this knowledge I’ve acquired outside of the classroom. One pivotal lesson I’ve gleaned from my 3 years in school: dating in college is hard.

Coming from a school with a 60/40 ratio of girls to guys, with a large slice of that 40% uninterested in boobs, I’ve got very few choices. The pool of college boys has been unimpressive and disappointing to say the least – I’m sick of random hookups with frat boys (yes, it’s true) and trying to get a college boy to commit.

I know there are some great guys out there, but maybe I’m looking in the wrong places. I’ve heard tons of success stories about online dating, but honestly, I’m a little nervous.  I’ve dabbled in the online pool, but I’m still not sure it’s the right thing for me.

Help! I’m torn. Read More »

Last Christmas, a nice family got together to take a photo for their yearly holiday cards. Last week, that same family discovered their photo…in Prague…being used for a local grocery store chain’s advertising campaign. Weird? Weird.

That little sitch got us thinking about all the photos we post online. Truth is, you never know who can get their grubby little paws on your stuff once you’ve handed it over to the world wide web, especially considering you can never really take it down. Who knows what weird company (CollegeCandy.com) is going to pick up your drunken selfie and splash it on billboards (or websites) nationwide?

It can happen to anyone, even you, drunk girl dancing on a table in the bar. Just look how simple it is:

Read More »

When you think of internet dating, you probably think about your best friend’s 59 year-old father and his many (failed) attempts to meet “the one” on Match.com.  Even if we were dismally lonely, I highly doubt most of us would allow ourselves to get so far as to post our own profile for the viewing pleasure of a middle-aged audience.  But what if the dating site was geared towards college students?

Now don’t get me wrong, people can still do shady s**t even if they are a 22 year old Dartmouth student.  The first “dating site” I saw that was remotely geared towards college students was the Craigslist personal ad section.  No offense to any of the upstanding gentlemen on Craigslist, but I think it’s a little odd to post an ad for yourself on the same site that you advertise the cactus that your roommate peed on at your last house party.  Plus, as we all know, thanks to the “Craigslist Killer,” it’s not exactly the safest way to meet people.

So what’s a lustful but “sick-of-all-these-douche-bags” kinda girl supposed to do?  Well StudentLove.com has the answer.  (It may not be the right answer, but it’s an answer.)  In order to join their dating site, you have to have an .edu email address, so it does a pretty job of keeping out the Scary Larrys.  But just because it’s there doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good way to pick up the hotties.  Here is my oh-so-technical analysis of StudentLove: Read More »

Have you seen those ads? You know, those Match.com ads? The ones where some HOT guy is “video chatting” right on your screen? If you frequent MySpace, I’m sure you’ve seen them.

Every time one of those redonkulous video ads pops up on my browser, I want to punch whoever made them in the face. Because those guys aren’t on Match.com. Those guys have never needed an online dating site to help them find a chick (or a dude, as the case may be). Those guys are hot. Those guys have fantastic smiles. Those guys are actors.

According to this little article, the success rate of the online dating industry is 22%. Of course, the ads for EHarmony and Match.com don’t want you to know that. They want you to think hot, happy people are all over their websites. They want you to pay money to find these hot, happy people with fantastic smiles.

But I gotta say, after doing my own (ahem) research, I have found the amount of hot guys on dating sites to be alarmingly low. There’s certainly no body building Brad Pitt lookalike hoping to video chat with me. There’s someone who wants to chat about how it’s cool to be a nerd or make vegan cupcakes, but sadly, this someone cannot hold a candle to those dudes in the video ads.

What do you think? Is internet dating really as easy / successful as people say? Or is it just false advertising?

We have a problem. I have fallen again for someone…by Internet.

No, no, not Match.com or anything like that. I didn’t surf eHarmony and develop some delusional love affair with someone’s profile picture. It’s a little more complicated than that.

I’ve always hated dating. The whole process stresses me out. The questions that make you feel like you’re at a job interview, (which technically you are, ‘pick me, hire me!‘) the awkward hand holding, the TIME. All of it, to me, is just a means to an end. An end where you’re finally comfortable and can stop wearing make-up around them, stay in for the night to watch bad reality television, or cuddle under your Disney blanket, knowing they don’t care — they just want to be with you. I love love, but I don’t love the process of getting there. I just want it to happen and what better way to get there, than by the Internet? Read More »

My brother met his wife on an internet dating site (and I heart her). I have countless family friends that have met their spouses on the internet. I have several close friends who are currently dating someone who they met online (and they are C.U.T.E.).

And I have a fellow blogger friend who openly discusses her trials and tribulations of the online-dating world.

From the outside, I am a huge proponent of internet dating. The reason some of my ex-single friends found boy toys online? MY urging for them try it out!

“It’s really hard to meet people these days” I tell them.

“You know you aren’t going to meet the man/woman of your dreams at the bar”

“It is so not a loser thing to do anymore- soo many people I know met their boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife online”

“Just TRY it”

And on and on I go.

Oh. My. God. I sound JUST like my mother! Read More »

It’s summertime and love is in the air. While I’m lucky enough to have an amazing long term boyfriend, most girls our age are still playing the dating game. Online dating sites like EHarmony.com and Match.com have been everywhere lately- from billboards to TV’s to your sister’s computer screen. But what happens when you don’t fit the traditional mold and would like to look for someone… a bit more unusual? Maybe you have something specific that defines your personality or a certain style of living that cannot be compromised in a romantic relationship.

Hoards of specialized dating websites have begun to crop up around the web, resulting in matchmaking opportunities for weirdos everywhere. Radar Magazine’s list of some of the most obscure dating sites inspired me to search for a few strange dating sites of my own. I figured there must be something stranger than Datemypet.com…and boy was I right.

Redneckandsingle.com- The name of the site is pretty self-explanatory. If you enjoy beer, trucks, fishing, and rodeos this is probably the place for you.

Laffpersonals.com- Been around the block one too many times? This site is for singles openly infected with herpes, HPV, or your choice of a variety of other nasty STD’s. The site argues that 1 in 4 people have an STD anyway, so it’s safer to date someone who’s up front about it…and maybe they have a point. Read More »

I have been called many things in my life (bitch, fattie, thicker than a buttermilk biscuit), but one name that I wear with pride is “fag hag.”

Some people might be offended by the title, but not me; I can’t help that I love hanging out with fabulous people and more often than not gay men fall into that category. I also can’t help the fact that I went to school in one of the most liberal cities in the country and was just surrounded by ‘em.

What can I say? I love gay men. They are fun to shop with, great to dine with and just all around the best people to hang out with when you need a laugh or someone to cry to when their masculine brethren treat you like crap.

Unfortunately, since leaving college I have been unable to feed my gay-man addiction. And I am dying. DYING. Every guy I meet needs to flex his muscles and talk about sports. I need someone to talk Chanel with, damnit!

Anyways, in my quest to find new gay men to hang out with I hit the internet. No, I didn’t pass myself off as a gay man looking for love on Match.com (though that would have been super fabulous, no?).

In fact, I didn’t even mean to actively look for a gay best friend…that would be totally pathetic. I mean, I am slightly pathetic for even being upset about the lack of gay men in my life, but I have standards. And they definitely don’t include hitting the internet in search of friends. Read More »