Online relationships can also be rewarding and meaningful. Although it is better to be cautious, more and more couples meet thanks to new technologies and develop a stable, happy and committed relationship.
Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2022
Love through dating apps has a bad reputation. The widespread idea is that meeting people online is risky; that ties are fragile, that ghosting is frequent, that it is better not to trust anyone and that those who sign up are only looking for occasional relationships. It can also be, but falling in love from a distance is more and more frequent and can also be good.
Ways to meet new people and potential partners have changed completely in recent years. So much so that we could say that it is almost easier to enter an application or an online portal than to go out and socialize in the real world. Especially in this period of pandemic and confinement, there is hardly any other solution than looking out the window of the virtual.
There are those who do not trust, however. But there's no denying that it's convenient, handy, and easy. Just sign up, browse the profiles and wait for the coveted match to appear. What happens then is an unknown: the transition from virtual to real can lead to bitter disappointments or wonderful discoveries.
Fall in love remotely and through an application
Who knows what Jane Austen would think when she knew that, two hundred years after the release of Pride and Prejudice, her Elizabeth Bennet would no longer need to attend social events to meet Mr. Darcy. She would have been enough to join Tinder, Meetic or Badoo.
It is no longer necessary to leave the house to have a date and this is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time.
The disadvantages are well known. Sometimes, after spending days or weeks chatting with someone, perhaps establishing an exceptional understanding, charm and magic evaporate at the first meeting. Because, in most cases, that "face to face" needs something more than the simple physical attraction or complicity that sometimes builds up in the online world.
Attraction is based on a number of factors and small details. Other times, however, she falls in love from a distance and at the first meeting you understand that you have met the right person. No doubt a topic that has been of interest to psychology for decades. What did it turn out?
Authenticity and falsity of the online world
In the online world, everything seems easier. We are like distant and anonymous islands trying to create a bridge. Here there will be those who land on our island with a pirate ship: through falsehoods and bad intentions.
Others instead, thanks to daily interaction, they reveal an authentic, sincere and direct self. This is demonstrated by research published by K, Mckenna, Amie S. Green and M. Gleason in 2012.
Relationships that begin on the internet or through online applications can be successful. This is because, in some cases, a virtual scenario allows us to reveal our personality perhaps even better than in reality.
Couples born on apps are just as happy as those who know each other in a traditional way
Our parents probably met at a party, in class or in a club. Finding your partner through a dating app doesn't make the relationship any less sincere or happy than in past generations.
A survey conducted at the University of Geneva in 2018 came to the same conclusion. After following 3248 couples who met online, the researchers showed that falling in love from a distance is, in most cases, a guarantee of success. Not only can love be found, but even the "real" one. Stable, inspiring and happy.
Lead researcher, Gina Potarcque, picked up another interesting aspect. Couples who meet through a site are more interested in living together.
Falling in love from a distance: this will be the case for most couples in the future
We met special people at a party, on school desks, on the subway or in the most unpredictable places. But falling in love from a distance will be increasingly common for several reasons:
- First of all because it allows us to save time, to be selective and it is easy. One of the advantages of Facebook applications or even groups is the ability to meet people with like-minded tastes. Starting from a common interest is always useful.
- Secondly, because technology allows us quick, direct and daily contacts. This constant relationship that is built little by little with complicity, sincerity and intimacy can be the basis of a very solid relationship.
We know very well that we need to be cautious. The risk of running into a fake profile exists, it is not new. Deception has always existed and still exists, only the tools are more sophisticated.
Lying and even disappearing without explaining was a risk even in Jane Austen's time. Love, however, always manages to make its way, in all its forms and ways.
