The Internut Complex.

As promised:

Back in the days, it was all about meetin up with someone in person. All the time. Nowandays tho with the advancement of the internet and "social networking sites"...you can start meetin people through the internet. Just like with everything in life, it has its advantages and disadvantages. I'm gonna go over some of them:

1) Looks (advantage- in person). When you first meet someone in person, obviously you know how they look like. Yeh they can be the dopest person in the world personality-wise but if they don't physically stand up to what you're looking for...you can at least dead that shit before it starts. Online, you can only go by pictures. Sometimes however, you can wind up being pleasantly surprised if the person is just a bad picture taker. And of course, the more pics you have to go by, the better. At the same time tho, there is Adobe Photoshop and those infamous "pose for the Myspace crowd" pics that are just facial shots hah. Proceed with caution.

2) Personality (advantage- online). In the long run, how he/she can keep your interest is gonna supercede how someone looks. Of course, you still need to take care of yourself but it doesn't matter if you're Carmen Electra, if all you can do is babble about nothin; a relationship isn't gonna last long because it'll then become purely physical. When talkin to someone online first, you get a feel of if they can sustain conversation (bc that's all you can do) and isn't just one-dimensional either. In person, it can be harder for someone to break out of their shell, thus not knowing how their personality is...but at the same time, you get a feel of who they are quicker in person.

3) Range (advantage- online). Ludacris may have gotten hoes from different area codes because he does tours, etc. But you can meet a wide array of girls/dudes from all over the country online through these social networking sites. After all, this country has 300 some odd million people...why just stick with the 9 million (in my case) people who live in NYC? Of course, the disadvantage is distance; you could be hella compatable with someone who's a good 2,000 miles away...and that doesn't help much does it? Personally, I've tended to click better with girls who don't live in the area.

4) Selectivity (advantage- in person). Choose your destiny. While online you can be picky too...chances are you'll never know if that someone really turns out to be some Wacko Jacko or is the real deal. When doin what I call the "Myspace Holla"; you're gonna get shut down A LOT via the silent treatment. People are more sketched out by that then in person. At least in person they can see who the hell you are and then make a decision from there. I mean, if you're DK that just increased the percentage of gettin yours from 3% to 8% but that's still a jump ya dig?

5) Goin for the Kill (advantage- online). Chances are (and it happens A LOT) that if you meet a chick and get her number the same night, you'll wind up hesitating on callin her. By then she'd probably forget that she met you the other night and that's effort wasted (I don't know how many times I reiterate that shit). However, if you've been talkin to someone online for quite a while, they've gotten comfortable with you and maybe they want to take it "to the next level" so you exchange numbers. It's not so awkward now to call them because you already know them and have gotten the OK.

6) The Round 2 (advantage- push). In the "in-person" case it's the "first date". In the online case it's the "inital encounter". Both can be equally awkward. In-person, though you sorta have an idea of who he/she is...how is it gonna be like now when it's just the two of yall doin somethin? People in a group setting are totally different from when they're put in an individual setting. Online- you know the person is cool and you're excited to meet them...but what if physically they really don't stack up how you envisioned it to be? If they don't, you're put in a predicament especially if you've both hyped the meeting up.

At the end of the day, it is what it is. It's not embarassing to say that you've met so-and-so online...as long as meeting people online is the ONLY thing you do. Hell, I'll admit 2 of my last 3 relationships came from people who I met online initially (the last one I couldn't have asked for it to blossom any better). Of course, meetin someone in-person is still the conventional way of doing things...but since as a society today we're so stuck on looks; it may be harder for the average-lookin to uglyass mothafucka to get who they want and not be blinded by just looks. Also, don't knock it until you try it, you can be pleasantly surprised just so long as you apply good judgement (as you would in any situation of course).

PS- Conference Finals: Gimme the Pistons and Lakers both in 7 games.

And so on.