Network marketing was once a complex concept. Now, whichever way you turn, the concept has become the daily language.
By the same token, internet dating is no longer a secretive culture of young Ethiopians. Families used to determine the fate of a child. Now, children participate in their future going further and choosing their life mate via network dating.
Today’s Society discusses the generation gap and the consequence of ‘web impressions’.

People are making
friends via the internet, some even get married.

What is your opinion of this trend?

“Strange! I can’t trust someone I don’t know for real.”
Ato Tewodros

“I met my wife on the web. We were friends for almost four years, but only on the web. When we realized that we couldn’t go on like that, we decided to grow our relation into a love affair. A year passed before I popped the question through simple love and emails. She came [to Ethiopia] with her American family for the first time during Timket and we were married with the blessings of both families. ”
Hailu

“She [my girlfriend] was looking for Ethiopian students abroad through the internet. I was in Denmark earning my Masters degree. We shared different ideas in the chat room for a while and noticed that we had a lot in common. There was a vibe between us and a desire to know more about each other, so we started private session, isolating ourselves from the chat room. Now we are living our dream together.”
Belay
“I have a friend who married a person she met on the net. Sometimes I feel that she does not love him; he is different.”
Emanuel
“I don’t know much about the on-line business or relationships; be it a friendship or a love affair. I love how it [the net] makes you think broadly, but marriage, yuck! How can a person trust someone they don’t know in reality?”
W/o Almaz

www.loveaffairgonewrong.com
Is internet dating destroying Ethiopian courtship?

Traditionally speaking youngsters get married if and only if they have their biological or legal guardians blessing. It is the parents’ duty to select the perfect match. There are even cases where parents select their future son- or daughter-in-law while their child is still an infant.
Globalisation is challenging the concept of these traditional values. Through computer, young people are discovering themselves in new and, for some, unusual ways. One of the most risky on-line practice is meeting strangers through the internet. Making new friends via the web might seem unusual to those not familiar with the ease and simplicity of internet culture.
In Western society, it is often too much for a man to talk to a woman without her obvious consent. For such cases dating sites have become a necessary intermediary. For those men who could not make the move towards the woman they fall for, the internet was the opportunity of lifetime.
Alem met her sweetheart on one of the dating sites which had all her personal information except for her real name and picture. The young and ambitious girl gave her personal details to the site to find the perfect man: “I could not find the kind of man I was looking. This was my chance and I took it.” It is a simple example to show how the tight bonds and rigid ties has changed family life.
Nowadays people now how to use the internet ‘perfectly’. Previously parents were curious to know the background of their children's spouses. Not just about him or her, but also about his or her family. Can we say that, thanks to the internet, children have become ‘free’? What we valued ten or fifty years ago has almost no place now.
The online business is making the globe in to a village. Different races are learning to tolerate and respect each other and their cultures. Meanwhile, the internet is degrading the value of cultures.