[i]New York Times[/i] columnist David Brooks [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/03brooks.html?_r=1]argues[/url] that technology erodes romantic imagination.
[quote]The opportunity to contact many people at once seems to encourage compartmentalization, as people try to establish different kinds of romantic attachments with different people at the same time. It seems to encourage an attitude of contingency. If you have several options perpetually before you, and if technology makes it easier to jump from one option to another, you will naturally adopt the mentality of a comparison shopper.[/quote]
I agree that the Internet and Facebook have given people an infinite amount of dating options. And sometimes the thought of these options move people toward hedonistic dating rituals and not to Brooks' idealized image of love. But the Internet's ability to initiate relationships, allowing people to actually communicate and foster some kind of rapport with each other, has a little more class than dropping lines at a bar. Technology gives people a better chance to find a desirable mate.
What do you guys think?