There is the whole ritual of dating filled with awkward gaffs, meeting the parents and inevitably copious amounts of cheap wine.
Who needs a significant other when you have the Internet?
A Zogby International and communications consultancy, 463 Communications,
http://www.zogby.com/, poll released this week reveals that one in four Americans say the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other.
The online survey, perhaps making it biased to begin with, conducted Oct. 4-8, included 9,743 adult respondents nationwide.
The survey signifies a dynamic shift in this country's sociological mindset.A once open armed, chat with your neighbors culture has manifested itself into a digital avatar life that is replacing the core of human existence — physical, a.k.a.. real, relationships. The survey reports 24 percent of Americans said the Internet could serve as a replacement for a significant other. And while highest among singles, there was no difference between males and females openness to the idea of the Internet as a surrogete partner.
Self-actualization in this country is in limbo, and the Internet is redefining individual relationships at an alarming rate.More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook, according to the survey. And of the 78 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds who report having a social networking profile, more are starting to refer to that as their social life.
As frightening as the fact that one-quarter of America would prefer to eat dinner with a computer rather than a member of the opposite sex, perhaps even more fighting is the fact that Americans support using this technology to create an Orwellian future. More than half of Americans said Internet content, such as video, should be controlled in some way by the government. Twenty-nine percent said it should be regulated just like television content, according to the survey. While 24 percent said government should institute an online rating system similar to the one used by the movie industry. Only 36 percent said the blocking of Internet video would be unconstitutional.
And while Americans apparently want government to monitor what they watch for them, parents are open to the idea of monitoring their children via tracking devices. One in five Americans said they would be willing to insert a chip into a child, 13 or younger, to help track them if they are lost, abducted, or just tend not to be where they are supposed to be. What kind of Draconian Big Brother reality do we live in when people are ready to treat their children like cocker-spaniels.
This isn't some science fiction Robert Ludlum novel, these are real people wanting to institute real technology to make a generation, dependent on computers, more dependent on technology. Imagine if you will a not so distant future where our children, implanted with tracking chips, sit in front of their computers interacting with their significant other aptly named the Web.
I need some cheap wine.
