It happens every time.

My boyfriend and I will be out to dinner with a large group, family or friends, or both.  Someone will ask us the inevitable question…”How did you two meet?”  My boyfriend and I will pause, glance at each other, and wait just long enough for everyone to be uncomfortable.  Finally, one of us will say “Oh, we met online.”  Some people get it, some people don’t, and I wonder why we still feel so awkward admitting we met on the Internet.

I find it hard to believe there is still much of an online dating stigma alive and well these days, as just about all my single friends have profiles on multiple online dating sites, and I know countless couples who have met on the Internet.  Most of us don’t make a move without updating our social media networks, and we thrive in an era of constant connection.  The Internet isn’t some unavailable entity, it’s more accessible than ever, literally right in the palm of our hands.We can do anything-better and faster than we could before.   The Internet allowed me to hunt down my favorite jeans at a cheaper price, to stay up to date with my clients and coworkers 24/7, to Skype with my best friend across the country, and it introduced me to my boyfriend, someone who I might not have met otherwise.  So, what’s the problem?

To some, online dating might imply a last resort.  A one final attempt before throwing in the towel on finding love and embracing cat lady status.  It might imply that I couldn’t find love in the “real world”, so there must be something wrong with me, or that I’m on some kind of husband hunt. Some people might think that a man using online dating is a player or only looking for cheap hook-ups.

But let’s get real…online dating isn’t reserved for desperado’s or man whores. It’s using technology in the way that it was intended-to make our lives better.  It’s certainly made mine ten million times better.  The people who do buy into the online dating stigma are missing out on a lot, and the next time I’m asked how I met my boyfriend, I won’t shy away from the question.  I”ll say something to the effect of  “I met my him online! It was perfect.”

It was.