In a traditional social setting, this rejection can often be a harsh and humiliating affair. Often it is based solely on physical attraction or lack thereof, and often it given with more venom than the other person perhaps intends. Said unfriendliness is often understandable, however; during a given night in a bar or nightclub, a physically attractive person will receive the lion’s share of the attention from the crowd, desired or otherwise. Nonetheless, it can be a crushing affair to work your way over to a person in a social setting and instigate conversation only to be loudly and unceremoniously shot down.
In an online setting, this blow is often softened a bit by virtue of the different methods of interaction. Because of the nature of online dating, both parties are free to pursue any sort of interaction at their own pace. Instead of feeling pressured to act by time, alcohol, and the people surrounding them, a person who is desirous of speaking further with another can do so at a much more relaxed, leisurely pace. Furthermore, it takes a while before either party can be said to have invested significant time into the relationship, or for that matter before the conversation can even be classified as a relationship.
For these reasons, an online rejection is often easier to bear than a verbal one. If you express interest in another person and they opt not to continue contact, you’ve lost very little of your time and effort, and you know that there exists a multitude of other people that you may have better luck with. In some cases, it takes a while before personality differences begin to show themselves, and you may have been talking to another person for some measure of time before they tell you that they’d just as soon desist. Even then, however, the impersonality of email or telephone conversations lessens the impact of this, and you are able to take solace in the knowledge that the differences between you two would have ultimately proven detrimental to a lasting relationship.
Along these lines, you may on occasion find yourself having to play the role of the rejecter. In cases such as these, the same points mentioned above are applicable. It is never an easy thing to tell somebody that you would just as soon not speak with them any longer, but the comparative anonymity of the internet gives you the option of letting them down far more softly than you would be able to otherwise. Again, neither party is overly-invested in the relationship at first, and thus any rejection is easier to bear and to give.
