Facebook as a Wingman

I was talking to my friend the other night about the different uses of facebook.  I use it to catch up with friends and to reconnect with people I've lost touch with. Apparently he'll use it to scope out girls who are friends of friends. By "scope out" I mean he goes through their profile to see what their interests are and who the mutual friends are.  That way, if there's a party coming up, he can approach them and casually drop things into the conversation that he learned about them through facebook.


I can't decide if that's brilliant or a little creepy.  I'm all for things happening organically, but maybe this is better and easier to make a connection if you already know what they like.  However, it's one thing to choose things to discuss that you have in common.  It's another if you're pretending you like Justin Bieber because she started his facebook fan page.


You figure the idea is really the same as Match.com or JDate.  You sift out the things you find interesting about that person and decide whether or not you're going to talk to them.  Do you think that kills the romance?  Isn't the fun of starting something new and getting to know someone the fact that you're always in the discovery process?  I'm kind of undecided at this point because I do think we live in the age of efficiency.


Then again, I think maybe people tend to be more honest on their facebook page because most of their "friends" are actually people who know them in real life.  On Match and other dating websites, you're looking to put your best foot forward and sometimes people write profiles for the person he wants to be rather than the person he actually is.


Lesson Learned: If you're at a loss as to what to talk about with a girl, just reference Twilight, Glee, or Sex and the City and you're in.  Bieber forever.