Why might the idea of old-fashioned looking-for-love ads look so appealing to us today? For starters, we're growing increasingly fed up with anything that has to do with the Internet and the digital world. Relationship expert Georgina Vass explains to Cosmopolitan that we just want to spend less time on apps.
"In the personal ad scenario, a person can spend a fixed amount of time creating and posting an ad, and then (hopefully more successfully as compared with apps) relinquish the compulsion to keep searching," she says.
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In queer culture, personal ads have a bit of a different history. As homosexuality was illegal, connection ads were one of the few ways gays and lesbians could meet in the old days. That's where the notion that the personal column contains perversities and scams comes from; the police used to assume that. But the contemporary queer community is reclaiming the power of personal ads and bringing them back on Instagram.
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The Instagram dating community Personals was the brainchild of Kelly Rakowski, the creator of Herstory. It's now defunct, but started out as a personal ads page for lesbians. Rakowski would ask people to sit down and think about what they wanted to say and who they were.
"It's a sincere process. You're more vulnerable and people are really responding to that." According to her, people nowadays are craving a more genuine connection, not just a selfie and a cute emoji they can swipe right or left on.
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What do you think about these personal ads, Pandas? Would you ever consider posting such an ad yourself? What would your witty dating CV be? Share your thoughts with us in the comments! And while you're here, be sure to check out some hilarious stories about dates gone horribly wrong!
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