The post is entitled, Bbm, whatsapp and text dating worries! But it does also encompass email, facebook and twitter as I know some people like to arrange dates and things via social networks to. My question is with the arrival of such modern technology, is it making dating slightly more worrying?
You see I'm single so I can go out, meet someone, exchange bb pins/text/whatsapp, then bb chat/text/whatsapp all week, next I can arrange a first date via bb chat/text/whatsapp and finally meet up still using bb chat/text/whatsapp; all without talking to this person lol, without knowing what his voice sounds like or discovering what his personality is truly like. Its sort of like the modern day equivalent of being a pen-pal, or the older dating services where you had to write letters to each other!
The upside of this is that communication is instant, if for example x crosses your mind at 19:00:00 (I'm using the 24hr clock here) a quick text, bb, whatsapp will let them know by 19:00:50 seconds, which is very sweet :) lol!
The more worrying aspects are:
1) Can you really get to know someone over bursts of 200 characters in a bb, text or whatapp message?
I don't know about you but my questions and responses tend to be a lot shorter, precise and to the point (I'll try and fit what I'm saying into one text message not five lol and also try not to get finger cramps from pressing all the small buttons on the phone). With telephone conversations you tend to go into more detail and be more expressive; plus they say when it comes to first impressions what is being said counts for 7%, 55% is body language and 38% is style of speech i.e your tone of voice, so often times it feels like something is missing.
2) People lose all sense of the appropriate times to start having conversations with you.
It is 2am and I've just received a bb message, could it not wait?? I'm half asleep here! What important dating info are you able to give me at this time? None! Stop! Or suddenly there is a question x wants to know about you! "Do you get on with your family?" Really... at 2am? lol
3) Things get lost in translation (which goes back to part 1!)
Even with the additional smiley faces and emocion's, the most you can potentially ascertain is that a person constantly using ROTFL laughs a lot maybe they have a GSOH. While a person using sad smiley's a lot, might be miserable or moody, the person who uses cool smiley face all the time may think they are cool, but they may not be on the same level of your own personal cool standard.
Those are a few dating worries but the ultimate one (the creme da la creme of bbm/text/whatsapp dating downside's)...
4) Date Night
So finally of course after you've spent the entire time texting, bbm-ing and whatsapp-ing your potential date, date night arrives and you then spend all your time worrying about whether you and he will actually get on at all because...
...You've ONLY ever bbm-ed, texted and whatsapp-ed each other! Lol, the fact that you've ONLY bbm-ed, texted and whatsapp-ed now terrifies you...you think maybe I should have called hmmm...
But its too late you've already sent that final text to say..."I'm on my way" :/
I do think its time to start calling again!
So BDSS'ers what's your experience's? Have you dated someone arranged via facebook, twitter, bbm? How did you get on?
