Aside from posting AYS links on Twitter (follow here if you fancy), I don’t have much use for the social networking tool, a blasphemous thought to new-media geeks such as myself, but it’s true. That being said, I am not familiar with the Twitter environment, and in especially can’t conceive of using it as a dating tool.
However, it seems flittering, — flirting with someone on Twitter — is a phenomena prevalent enough for it to have leapt off the Internet into the real world via Flitter Parties, dating parties where singles gather, meet and socialize via Twitter.
I don’t know that I quite understand how Flitter Parties are executed, but my interpretation of the situation according to several sources, is that singles stand in a room with numbers written on name tags, mobile device in hand. Their number, along with a photo and other info, is then projected onto a large screen all other singles can read, at which point the single Tweeters interested in the person on screen contacts them via Twitter using their mobile device and the person’s assigned number.
Um, what?
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve done the online dating thing. The results were surprisingly promising, although the eventual success rate yielded the same fizzled results as would happen in the “real” world. And while I can’t deny the reach afforded comes at little to zero real effort — perfect for busy bees and homebodies — ultimately nothing can challenge meeting a potential future fling or love in the flesh.
An online dating site’s environment is undoubtedly unnatural in the traditional sense, but I take comfort in that the people profiled still speak my language. Full sentences with full-length words, spelled correctly, with commas and parenthesis and the likes. But dating on Twitter? This type of progressive, new-media dating medium strikes me as a portal catered to and littered with devout MTV fans of “Jersey Shore” and “The Hills,” complete with young, vapid girls texting “U R 2 HoT. LULZ!” to some tool with a popped collar.
This might come off as supremely judgmental, especially for someone whose done the whole online dating thing, but what can I say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Young I may be, but I’m also old enough to not hop on every marketing ploy and scheme aimed at young adults.
Maybe that’s problem one, I’m assuming their target audience are the same people this poster was designed for. Several publications say Flitter Parties are for young, tech-savvy professionals, but as someone who considers themself just that, I can say quite confidently that I’m most definitely not their demographic, begging the question: who is?
Would you consider participating in a Flitter Party? Seriously, I’m curious, because this sounds so completely foreign, I can’t even conceive of it from a business standpoint. What is it that attracts people to this method of dating? Being assigned a number and then bombarded with 140-character maximum texts from some random person in the room? I don’t know about all that. What do you guys think?
Sources: AssociatedContent, NPR, Yahoo!News
