Nuance and Neuroses

Subtitle: I want to see your face Look, I'll be the first to admit it. Despite every profile proclaiming to hate the "superficial" bar scene, online dating is just as superficial. Your picture is the most important part of your profile. Anything else—likes, dislikes, intelligence, humor—is secondary. It's a fact of life. Like it or not, you have to be attracted to a person to date him or her. Of course, I understand that you cannot necessarily tell if you're attracted to a person based on a two-dimensional picture. The way I approach it: If I feel there's even a possibility I could be attracted to the guy, even if the attraction is not immediate, I'll give his profile a closer look. Is online dating based on appearances just as much as real life? Of course it is. Do I reject profiles because I don't find the man attractive? Yes. Does that make me a bad person? I think not. That said, men, please put some thought into your picture. Or rather, pic

Online dating. More accepted than ever before. Everyone knows someone now who met his or her significant other online. In the 90s, anyone you "met" through the internet was assumed to be a 45-year-old creeper targeting young naive girls. Though it hasn't completely thrown off the stigma that it's only for desperate, ugly, creepy, or painfully shy individuals, you can now admit to someone that you've tried or continue to try online dating without the fear of facing a pitying or disgusted expression. I have joined the online dating community. Rather, make that communities. Over the past year and a half, at different times, I've been a member of JDate , eHarmony , and Match . I am not d esperate, c reepy, u gly, or p ainfully shy. I'm no D-CUP . What I AM, however, is an ASS : a stute, s ocial, and s ingle. Astute: I'm smart and fairly insightful—I notice things. I'm an editor by profession, and thus quite detail-oriented... a nice word, as my