Clean Up After Yourself
- Saturday, May 15 2010 @ 09:50 am
- Contributed by: Jet
- Views: 1,838
I admit it; I've been an early adopter of many a social networking site. Some of them never caught on; some I grew past. One thing I try to do, however, is delete my page when I know I'm really done using it. You'd think people would do this all the more frequently when it comes to online dating sites; after all, most of them have a singular purpose, and if you're satisfied in a relationship it ought to be time to take down the profile, right? Not so, for many. And so we have to wade through the flotsam and jetsam of abandoned profile pages as we begin our search.
Sure, we might not see many of these pages when we first begin. Live in a small enough area, however, and soon you're turning over every rock. That's when you realize that the guy that consistently pops up for you on page one actually has three different pages on this one site; he seems to create a new page every time he feels like updating, though he's been using the same pictures since 2005 at least. One girl randomly catches your eye, but she hasn't logged on in at least three years, and in her “recently read” section she talks about the hype surrounding that one Dan Brown novel.
Why do people leave up these monuments to their past searches? The reasons are varied. For the oldest pages, the people have probably forgotten their passwords at this point, if they even realize their profile is still floating around out there. For the more recent – the ones that are a year or less outdated – it could be that they're trying out dating or a relationship, but they're insecure enough about it that they've left their page up, just in case. And then there's the sneaky ones that log in regularly, but never answer email; they're technically dating but they like to see what else is out there.
Like so much litter, we simply have to move around these abandoned pages. But let this be a lesson to you! You can always save a copy of your own profile on your computer, if you think it's really good, when you get into a relationship. If you put it up again later, you're at least guaranteeing that you'll proofread it and that it will stay up-to-date. Those in your area will also view it with fresh eyes. But there's no reason to leave up a profile when you've lost interest or found someone; it's simply contributing to the waste.
Sure, we might not see many of these pages when we first begin. Live in a small enough area, however, and soon you're turning over every rock. That's when you realize that the guy that consistently pops up for you on page one actually has three different pages on this one site; he seems to create a new page every time he feels like updating, though he's been using the same pictures since 2005 at least. One girl randomly catches your eye, but she hasn't logged on in at least three years, and in her “recently read” section she talks about the hype surrounding that one Dan Brown novel.
Why do people leave up these monuments to their past searches? The reasons are varied. For the oldest pages, the people have probably forgotten their passwords at this point, if they even realize their profile is still floating around out there. For the more recent – the ones that are a year or less outdated – it could be that they're trying out dating or a relationship, but they're insecure enough about it that they've left their page up, just in case. And then there's the sneaky ones that log in regularly, but never answer email; they're technically dating but they like to see what else is out there.
Like so much litter, we simply have to move around these abandoned pages. But let this be a lesson to you! You can always save a copy of your own profile on your computer, if you think it's really good, when you get into a relationship. If you put it up again later, you're at least guaranteeing that you'll proofread it and that it will stay up-to-date. Those in your area will also view it with fresh eyes. But there's no reason to leave up a profile when you've lost interest or found someone; it's simply contributing to the waste.
Subscribe
