According to a recent article released through the Associated Press, there is a new phenomenon in the world of dating, one that never would have been possible just a few years ago. Apparently a sizeable number of daters are now using the power of the internet to research potential dates. Like most other things in life, this practice is both good and bad.

Privacy issues may come into play. If your date is in a social networking site such as MySpace or Facebook, he or she is unlikely to have a problem with you looking at their public profile. But what about Googling your date, that is, entering his name into the search engine at google.com?

This type of search may turn up old or erroneous information that you should not necessarily be privy to so early on in a relationship. Some daters go so far as to pay for an online background check. This type of search almost certainly invades your date’s privacy, as such information as home address, social security number and employment history may be revealed.

Proponents of the practice insist that it makes dating safer, as it allows them to weed out those with a criminal background as well as general creeps. It is true that a good background check will catch a criminal history, which may be a deal breaker for some people.

On the other hand, like such once-common practices as bicycling without a helmet, dating was once assumed to carry a small level of risk, which was accepted by those indulging. Now it seems that in many ways, modern Americans seek to eliminate all or most risk from their lives.

Googling your date has a strong downside. Rather than getting to know a person slowly over time, you may learn a jumble of unrelated facts about him or her before your first date. You may not get the whole story, or you may set yourself up for disappointment based on partial truths. You may even decide to break your date based on things you find online, which may or may not be completely accurate.

Use online research judiciously when learning about a new date. Half the fun is in discovering who the person is, and online research tends to breed insecurity, false expectations, and a lack of trust.

Posted by Lisa.