Nerves
“He actually replied! Oh no, he’s so eloquent, what if he’s not impressed with my response? This is so stressful, I hope I don’t look dumb…”
– tyler0388, as he begins typing out “lol, look kid…”
I’ve been fortunate enough to have not had to experience the online dating world so far, but everything I hear about the scene just sounds unbearable. I can get pretty long-winded in personal conversation and all the mental math of online communication – how much you should type, the appropriate length of time to deliver a response – seems like so much unnecessary anxiety. At least when I’m ranting about my pop cultural nitpicks in person I can see the interest in my conversation partner’s eyes die right in front of me. It feeds me. I gain sustenance from it. But there’s none of that through text.
– James