"Dating" 3.0

Picture this. A new app comes out that's all the rage - at least if you're a nerd in the advertising/ tech community. We'll call this app "Color." Naturally, you try it out because you're curious. It takes you a good five minutes to realize this app can either attract stalkers, be used for dating or potentially expose you to some saucy material while you're sitting at work. A few pictures and comments later you realize you have a few admirers ... digital admirers that is. In fact, they're fighting each other for your attention and the chivalry that you've never seen in person suddenly comes out in their comments. A day later, one digital admirer outwits all the rest and you reveal a tidbit that shows your identity. Five minutes later, you get a Facebook request. As the old saying goes, curiosity usually gets the best of you - so you accept.In the weeks that follow, you have a series of back and forth Facebook messages with the intention of actually meeting in the flesh. Despite working for the same company, you haven't crossed paths. A slow response rate and abbreviated messages indicate that maybe he's not that interested. Okay.. you think. It's not like we've ever even met. You browse through a dating site wondering if you actually have time to date and spot an old message you sent to a dating profile weeks prior. It's him ... weird ... But he never responded. Hmm. A few days later there's no response to your message and you think whatever it was, it's over. But wait. He has just requested you on FourSquare.

Finally.. a moment you were completely unprepared for. It's a crazy day at work and you're running around, stressed and frazzled. And who do you run into - him of course. You can hear in his hello that he is pleasantly surprised. After one more round of Facebook messages, there's radio silence. A few weeks later, he has changed his relationship profile to "In A Relationship" which to my understanding, women have to practically withhold sex to get their boyfriends to do that or be dating for an extended period of time. So you wonder... is this what has become of "dating" in 2011? Dare I say dating 3.0? And you tell yourself that maybe next time, maybe you'll control your curiosity and not fall down the web 3.0 rabbit hole.