The Day I Discovered That Im An OK Cupid Arsehole - Gizmodo Australia
I jumped into the internet ball pit of online dating as a free, simple way of getting over my last girlfriend. It was great! It was convenient, quick and distracting. And then I read a bad review about myself online.
My roommate sent me a message with a link to a girl who we, by a strange twist of fate and internet tragedy, had last year both hooked onto via OK Cupid and her account of the experience on her blog.
Oh gentle Christ.
After gulping several times, I read it. The experience of reading about yourself online, especially under the guise of a pseudonym, was surreal enough, even on the personal blog of some girl you never talk to anymore.
But reading somewhat vivid descriptions of your personal online conversations, text exchanges and digital courtship was something else. Especially given that I came out looking like a dick.
I was described as having gone radio silent, accused of avoiding hanging out with her despite the fact that our offices were less than a mile in walking distance. Ours was, she said, a passionate cyber-meeting turned cyber-fueled fling that couldnt sustain itself. What was missing was the human part of it. When Stan [me] stopped talking to me out of nowhere, he later apologized over G-chat for his behaviour. She concludes that You really dont know what ultimately drives people to join dating sites and the kinds of people youre going to meet.
I had been turned into a cautionary tale. And, for the record, I never sexted her. At least Im pretty sure I didnt.
This is a weird way to find out youve hurt someone. But why should it be surprising? OK Cupid (and the rest of the bunch) abstract the human element away from love and sex. And thats fine! Desirable at times, even. Were living in an abstracted age, where conversations are condensed and pictures are cropped and feelings often dont matter. The crevasse between someones decent OK Cupid profile and caring about an actual human being is a wide one and the simplicity of dating sites doesnt prepare you for the leap. Of the online dates I used to go on, their terminuses werent some shouting match or personality clash. It was just apathy. Meeting people in real life is tough! Thats why dating sites make money. We dont like tough. But these flings disintegrate as easily as they form, victims of their own convenience.
And they make it easier to hurt someone, because, truthfully, you never cared that much to begin with. When cancelling a date is as easy as cancelling an Amazon shipment, what are we to expect from each other? People come off as bitchy and rude and careless because the internet lets us be this way because we demand it! Is this good? Is it even sustainable? Im not sure. But I am pretty sure that I never sexted that girl. Really. I mean come on.
Image: mast3r/Shutterstock
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