Do you date people who watch Netflix?
You’re giving the Internet your time, so you should consider the person you’re turning into while you’re there. A short foray into identity formation in an online world.
I remember the first time I heard the word “Facebook” in a song (I think it was Kid Cudi’s My World). It felt nerdy and out of place. Facebook was already spreading rapidly across the country, but it didn’t feel like it had earned a spot in our cultural canon yet — it was just a website.
Fast forward a few years and now every superstar pushes their Instagram, rappers get into arguments because of Genius, and there’s a new kind of “Internet Famous” for people with big followings on YouTube or Twitter (or Pinterest or Twitch). Internet culture became pop culture, and I’m sure there’s a BuzzFeed list of GIFs to prove it.
That’s important because pop culture is the common ground we use to relate with each other. It seeps into every conversation we have, it informs our politics, and it validates our habits. Ultimately, pop culture helps us define who we are.
What color was the dress? Nicki or Taylor? Have you seen the new Game of Thrones? House of Cards? Orange is the New Black? Sense8?! Is Kendrick’s new album the GOAT?
Even if they seem silly, your answers to these questions are identity statements and they matter.
I recently sat with a friend as they swiped through their Tinder account (group matching is, itself, a fascinating new social interaction) and argued over who they should swipe left or right on. As we looked at profiles, I noticed that a lot of people called out Netflix by name. More than a quarter of the ‘potential matches’ used a tech company to describe who they were.
I checked to see if this was unique to Tinder, or to the area where we were swiping. It’s not. Here are a few of my favorite finds on the matter:
- How Netflix Could be the Best Dating Site Out There
- Watching TV and Online Dating Could Become the Same Thing
- Zoosk Introduces Netflix Integration
Our dating profiles say something powerful about how profoundly the Internet has impacted our culture — Netflix has embedded itself so deeply that we think of it as a part of ourselves. My love of Netflix is a character trait, an aspect of my personality. If you want to hang out with me, Netflix is something you have to deal with.
But dating profiles are just one aspect of our nascent digital identities. As we spend a greater percentage of our lives online, the Internet controls a corresponding amount of who we become.
We are what we do, and, lately, we’re doing a lot of stuff online.
The best tech companies know that, and they’re coming for our dating profiles (and our wedding toasts, and our eulogies).
Think about the websites you visit regularly and bookmark (do people still bookmark?), the apps you use, and the shows you watch. You’re giving the Internet your time, so you should consider the person you’re turning into while you’re there. Otherwise, you might one day find that you’re a troll (*gasp*) and you’ve traded your irl friends for an unsavory Internet clump.
Who do you want to be? Do your Internet habits reflect that?
I, for one, spend way too much time watching Netflix to date someone who’s not into it. So if you’re looking for someone who would rather be camping than bingeing Bojack Horseman, go ahead and swipe left.
B thinks, talks, and writes about who we are online. If you like hearing that kind of stuff, follow him on Twitter.
