When I first started using JDate, I thought that talking to random people I had never met before would be really awkward and was hesitant about signing up for an account. While I still find some aspects to be pretty creepy (like guys old enough to be my dad consistently instant messaging and emailing me), I do think that the website has some pretty cool features. One of my favorites is the “Kibitz Corner,” where members answer silly questions like “What was your favorite sitcom growing up?” and “What game show have you always wanted to be on?” When you respond to a question, your answer gets posted to your profile and they can spark a conversation or serve as an icebreaker when talking to someone. I have had in depth conversations with a few people about the merits of my favorite sitcom, Friends, and how I always wanted to be a contestant on The Price is Right so I could hang with Bob Barker. I find these little trivia questions to be a fun change of pace from the typical “what are you studying” and “what’s your favorite sports team” questions that I get all the time.
I also like that every time I go to my homepage on JDate, a list of my matches pops up. The people I’m matched with tend to be from Wisconsin or New Jersey (my home state) and in their 20’s so we definitely do have some things in common. I have even seen a bunch of people from Madison who are right around my age but I’ve been too nervous to initiate a conversation with them and don’t exactly want people to know that I’m a registered JDate user (ha shhh).
After using JDate for a few months, I can’t get past how superficial it all feels. Even though I know people are looking for good conversation and maybe even a potential date, I know that the first thing they look at are your pictures. I can’t help but feel that people place more importance on what you look like rather than the information you list about yourself. I have found that people are not shy about complimenting your appearance right off the bat. While this is flattering at times, it can also be pretty uncomfortable when it’s the first thing said.
I’ll admit that I can be pretty shallow right back. A huge pet peeve of mine is when people misspell words on purpose or use terrible grammar. A 30 year old guy who spells cool as “kool” is immediately not cool in my mind and it brings me back to my middle school days of talking on AOL Instant Messenger for hours at a time.
It is funny that in middle school it was really big news to find out a teach was on JDate. There is a definite stigma attached, and I think that is true for all online dating web sites. The natural thinking is that people should be able to find relationships in 'real world' interactions, but as the internet has gained notoriety in online dating, it has become more successful. Good luck with the rest of your project and the rest of you finals!
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