The Internet

Is it just me or has the Internet made it impossible for anyone else to meet new people? Well, not the Internet by itself. But my 21st century dependence on it as a one-stop destination for all my shopping/social needs?

It used to be: you went to the store--you went to the mall or a concert and that's where you met your future wife/new friends/potential enemies. But I never leave the house now. I don't have to. Netflix and Youtube have eliminated my need to go to a videostore to rent physical copies of movies. Amazon and--ahem--other sources have eliminated the need to go out and purchase new music or books. And if I want to talk to my friends, all I have to do is log into Facebook (I don't actually have a Facebook--but you get the idea) or send them an e-mail with an interesting link. Back in the proverbial day, you saw an interesting news story or heard a funny joke and you waited until you saw your friends, or people in general, in person before you could tell them. You had time to think about it--to add to that joke or news story. Now, all I have to do is copy the link and send it to them with my reaction summed up in text lingo ("haha" or "wtf?") so they know how to interpret my reaction had I shared the joke or story with them in real life.

I think, because we spend so much time on the Internet now and because there's so little need to actually venture out into the world when we need something, concepts like online dating sites are going to become more acceptable--no longer the stigmatized virtual pick-up joints for socially retarded gamers and computer nerds that they've been. People will make friends (they already do) or meet potential romantic partners (probably do that too) via social networking sites. It's so much easier to evaluate people online--all their information is right in front of you. It used to take months sometimes to find out that your friend secretly likes something you don't like: Pirates of the Caribbean, say. By which time you were already friends so it didn't matter. Now all it takes is a quick skim through their Facebook profile. The Internet makes everything faster, instantaneous--even disappointment.