THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE -- Aug 30 -- A recent study of 740 women with online dating ads showed that the women exercised great caution when communicating with strangers and meeting them for the first time. However, for the 568 women who did finally meet their dates, 30% reported having sex on the first date and 77% of those didn't use condoms. Mark Brooks, the editor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com, which covers news about the business of online dating, said people hoping for romantic relationships sometimes project what they're looking for onto virtual mates they may not know much about. He called it the "halo syndrome." "It can be pretty high emotion and high passion on that first meeting," he said.
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77% didn't use condoms!?! Wow. Almost reminds me of 80s when sex was safe and STDs were almost non existant.
Posted by: Houston singles | Jul 28, 2009 at 04:50 PM
I was online dating for years before meeting my husband on Match.com. I totally understand the "halo syndrome", but was unaware there was a name for it. I found that the more time I spent chatting and emailing back and forth with a potential match, the more disappointed I was once we met in person. I had projected all of my romantic notions on the guy only to be totally disappointed once we finally met. They never lived up to my expectations - I guess my expectations were too high. I did not end up sleeping with them, I ended up not wanting to see them again...the opposite.
I write all about my adventures in my online dating book. The halo syndrome is a big part of the book.
Posted by: Dawn (dating book) | Nov 02, 2009 at 09:43 PM