Internet birthed a new vocabulary of amorous interactions, changing as new platforms popped up. But in this forest of initials and neologisms, words probably lost their force and/or romance only became a matter of words
One of the great features of contemporary love is the ever-increasing vocabulary to describe amorous interactions. To track the development of this dating dictionary is to track the politics of romance in modern life – and the digital history of intimacy.
At first there was a gleeful acronym soup birthed in chatrooms. ASL – Age Sex Location – was the familiar overture here. A space of anonymity, the chatroom revelled in uncategorised encounters. It was understood that anonymity brought a certain sexual or emotional freedom. ASL established the bare conventions of match-fixing and identity and the rest of the interaction would determine if the relationship would transfer to being IRL – In Real Life.
At first there was a gleeful acronym soup birthed in chatrooms. ASL – Age Sex Location – was the familiar overture here. A space of anonymity, the chatroom revelled in uncategorised encounters. It was understood that anonymity brought a certain sexual or emotional freedom. ASL established the bare conventions of match-fixing and identity and the rest of the interaction would determine if the relationship would transfer to being IRL – In Real Life.