I was in London the other day and it was there in the UK that it hit me: the good old times are gone. Of course, that is no news, but somehow it really impressed me. It also might have depressed me a little bit. And there is only one person to blame: the British guy that asked if I was on Facebook.
When I was much younger and still in school, we used to ask each other out with a little note. We would even draw a small tick box which was saying “yes”, “maybe” and “no”. You would also ask for somebody’s landline phone number and hope that the person you were calling for would pick up the phone…. and not their parents! Back in those days dating was like being a cowboy; it was exciting, spontaneous and you never knew what would happen next.
Time flied by and before I knew it we were asking each other out by email. Man, that was revolutionary for me but after a while it was not that strange anymore and I spent days on MSN. This was around the time that mobile phones came into our lives and text messages became popular. If you were tough enough you would send somebody a text message via your gigantic mobile phone. The thing could not even fit in your pocket, but damn, it was so cool to have one. Nowadays, we do not use little notes, emails, landlines or even a mobile phone number. If you meet somebody interesting that you might ask out in the future you use the following four words: ‘Are you on Facebook?’
I could not help but wonder: what is going on with that Facebook-dating? Why are we doing it? Who’s doing it? Of course, I cannot deny that it is much easier to get to know somebody through Facebook. You can see the pictures from holidays and to what school somebody went. Facebook automatically shows your shared interests and friends. Just a few clicks and you can get a good idea of who you are dealing with. You can keep track of where and with who your object of affection is hanging out. Nothing is a secret anymore. All the mystery is gone and being a cowboy is history.
I’m longing back to the old days now and then. To the excitement of dating. Leaving notes in jackets, send emails and wait for days to get one back and call and hang up because you are not talking to the right person. But meh, live goes on and so goes the technology. Maybe I should just accept it.
Oh and the British guy? I have added him as a friend , decided that I did not like his profile and deleted him again. That is one of the good things about Facebook-dating. You don’t need to come up with a lousy excuse to avoid the date. You just delete.