Online Dating and Females in the Academia: Is it an Issue for Commendation, Condemnation or Ambivalence

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of online dating, interrogates the motivations for engagement, and examines the lived experiences of females in the academia on online dating. The paper is grounded in Walther’s Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) and argues that e-dating as a western canon of love-quest, has altered processes of initiating first dates and maintaining romantic relationships. However, due to the stigma attached to using e-dating sites, literature is scant on the motivations and intriguing experiences of e-daters, especially, from females in the academia who are perceived not to adequately socialize due to their busy schedules, but encounter the phenomenon through readings, peer discussions, and/or active participation. The paper proceeds on these lines of theoretical assumptions and gathers data through cyberethnography of three dating sites: Africana, Vidamora and Plenty of Fish …