Dating websites: the new MMO
Many people who have a holier-than-thou attitude about video games think nothing is wrong with devoting hours every day to pimping themselves on a dating site, or jazzing up their MySpace profile in the hopes that someone takes a second glance.
A recent article by the Wall Street Journal ("The Undateables", September 23, 2006, subscribers only) covers the top six online dating websites, and the habits of the users and ... surprise! They get sucked into an all-new online existence, and spend most days logged onto the site to spruce up a photo, comment on a message board, or groom their profile in an effort to get noticed. When they do, they are rewarded with bling, like a featured profile, or a move into the "local hotties" section.
Sarah Schoomer signed into Consumating.com and finds herself "logging eight hours a day on the site, trying to up her score by being more visible in message boards and sending strangers clever notes; her laundry, exercise routine, and sleep were suffering."
Sound familiar?
We have a feeling that the blonde next door's "I need to add three photos to my Match.com profile so that a hottie will email me" urge is probably the same as the "must get to Level 40 so I can get that mount" itch. How is this any different than logging onto World of Warcraft and running a few errand quests in order to bump up a level?
As sites like MySpace develop games for dating, and people fall in love on MMOs, these two worlds are bound to collide. Or have they already?
