Meet the Author
Dan Slater is a widely published author of journalism and creative non-fiction. Slater, a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, previously served as a legal affairs reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine and GQ. Currently, he is a contributor to Fast Company.
Book Basics
Love in the Time of Algorithms explores how technology has changed the way people date. As the product of a union that began when his parents met through computerized dating, married in 1967, and became his parents in 1977, Slater’s interest in the history of technology and dating is both personal and professional. While computers enabled creative folks to launch business that relied on technology to match people for dates, they were incapable of creating cultural change that would remove the stigma from this form of dating. The widespread acceptance of online dating developed over many years thanks largely to the widespread adoption of the internet in all areas of life. Today, roughly 1 in 3 of America’s 90 million single adults participate in web-based dating sites. Today’s sites offer niche dating for any and everyone, mobile accessibility, and are available to members based on subscriptions (paid services) or at no charge (funded by advertising). Increased reliance on web-based dating sites for single adults in all age categories has contributed to the ongoing transformation of what dating is and what people expect it to be. While changes will continue, Slater rightfully concludes, “Any technology that helps people find companionship, helps them not be alone, offline, is something to be thankful for” (p.220).
So What?
The internet has changed the world. The internet continues to change the world. Only in recent years have we begun to speak about how artificial it is to separate the online world from the offline world. More blurring of the two in the future seems a rather safe assumption.
- How has technology changed dating during the course of your lifetime?
- Whether a new dating relationship begins online or offline, can you imagine it growing for any length of time without being nourished in both?
- How soon might the majority of new dating relationships begin as a result of online sites or other technological platforms?
Dan Slater. Love in the Time of Algorithms: What Technology Does to Meeting and Dating (Current, 2013). ISBN: 9781591845317.