Online Dating: Is the Method of Modern Love Turning Us into Pariahs of Passion?

So there I was, perusing the online singles ads for the umpteenth time...and it hits me...how stupid this is. Here I am shopping for a woman like I'd shop for a toaster on Wal-Mart.com. And I think---in my inner monologue's best Keanu Reeves impression: "Whoa."

Then I wonder: Is this the pinnacle of dating? Of technology? Is the best we can get now just a shopping list of potential partners- complete with photos and a tiny blurb that neatly sums up who we are and what we want? Can a profile on a personals site - so coldly similar to an ad in the J. Peterman catalog that entices us to purchase the "Urban Sombrero" - be the end-all-be-all gateway to romantic bliss?

Is it even possible?

Then I remember...legions of people meet this way. For love, for sex, for something more, or less...it's an incredible tool for the socially challenged-the shy person that lurks somewhere in all of us. Or the person who refuses to hang out at the meat-market bars & clubs...the person who can't find what they're looking for through circles of friends or other more mundane social outlets like ice-cream socials, or church functions. How can those awkwardly painful real life meetings compare to the endless pages of possibilities and near-zero risk of rejection that only internet access and a valid credit card can provide?

Doubtless, meeting online has it's strong points. But does this technology really bring us closer together, or is it contributing to making the daily interactions of reality even more difficult, widening the already canyon-esque gap of social contact?