Social Media Relationships: Do They Work by @Batarhe #NHBiReview S4W8

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After an unscheduled one week break, #NHBi returned to the timeline this week and it was sheer joy and a relief felt by everyone on its return.

This week on the show the topic was ‘Social Media Relationships: Do They Work?’ And we had as guest Foghi Batarhe, @Batarhe talking on the show. Batarhe started off by saying he isn’t by any means a relationship expert and described himself as a ‘normal tweep.’ You see that’s what guests say when they do not want to be charged to ‘Twitter Court’ in the future. Moving on however, Batarhe quotes a research on online dating that says “Internet couples tend to be a better fit than those who meet by more traditional means…”

Batarhe goes on to cite the example of the chat app 2go that has an estimated 9 million subscribers alone in Nigeria saying “…here’s the catch,if we have this huge number of
folks with access to the internet it follows that it becomes a good meeting place.”

He also talks briefly of someone he knew while growing up who met his American wife via “good, old Yahoo Messenger”. And yes they are indeed happily married.

ASL?

But then what are the initial expectations? Batarhe says its important we know this, because not all relationships would lead to the altar, whether you met via social media or not.

“Personally before you say something is a success or otherwise you have to first understand the initial expectations. Because not all relationships will lead to the altar. So if one’s expectations were just to have sex. If I achieved that, it’s success.”

Wait, did I mention that Batarhe met his wife on Twitter?

“So a few years ago when I joined Twitter, I didn’t have the wildest expectation that I’d meet my Lovely wife on here. I joined Twitter out of curiosity just to prove to my dear friend Troy that Facebook was way cooler. I’d been here a year or so when this bright sunny day this interesting handle floated into my horizon. I’d noticed that a lot of my friends were always engaging her on twitter, so naturally me too I joined her follower base. I kinda enjoyed her tweets, not like I had any P setting motives at the time. She too had followed back. One particular tweet almost spoilt it before it even began. She’d been watching and tweeting Fareed Zakaria’s GPS. So me and my silly mouth felt like we’d been friendly so I tweeted ‘hmm, shouldn’t you be watching Keeping up with the Kards’. That singular tweet spoilt plenty things. But in time we had become tweet buddies again. Still no P set yet. After a couple of months of observing, scoping her TL and all we moved to DMs… Until one day she sent me her BBM pin. We had interesting convos, I asked for her mobile because I needed to put a voice to the personality. Now, mind you I’d been single for a year as my heart had been split open by my long time ex, I just wanted to be alone.”

Quick question. When you meet someone online, and you really like them and want to take it offline, how soon should you do that? Again, there are so specifics or set in stone rules. Too quick and you might ruin it, too late and you still might. And there is the danger of meeting a psycho. So in all things there is the need to be security conscious.

Batarhe was telling us a story.

“So I quickly set about making that right,  I quickly booked a plane ticket and flew across a few states to meet up in person. I know it’s important to meet up as soon as possible, otherwise it’d remain a phantom relationship. So I flew down to meet with her. Seeing her in person I just knew right there at the airport that boy you gotta marry this diamond. Today we are happily married with a beautiful daughter as my Avi can tell.”

And the ladies broke into “awwwwwwn”

“Have we had our own wahalas? Of course.. But then again even relationships started from more traditional means do have them.
So ladies and gentlemen if you’re eyeing that babe or dude, better set that P now oh or forever hold your peace. After all,we spend so much of our time on social network sites (Twitter,Facebook, 2go,even Hi5) naturally we’re bound to get involved. So I am a living testimony that Social Media Relationships (once taken to the next level) do work.”

Humanity has come a long way from Adam proclaiming to Eve, ‘you are the bones of my bones and the flesh of my flesh.’ And every tool man has invented has been to make doing things a lot more easier as our civilisation progresses. Social Media Relationships do work, as Batarhe’s story shows, and its not only him. There are hundreds of couples out there who first met on Twitter. And it isn’t only just Twitter. Facebook, Hi5, 2go, Eskimi and what have you, including dating sites where from the onset you are clearly on them to look for a partner. People’s sceptism are naturally drawn from traditionalism, some keep their involvement or stories secret because friends might laugh at them saying ‘You dey love person wey you never see? Na just voice you dey trip for? What if na cripple?’ So of course, know exactly who you are dealing with before putting your heart in and then take it offline as soon as you can. But then before Social Media there were Pen Pals/Letters, and as the world continues to evolve we would do things even less traditionally than before. And like someone said maybe even one day we might have an online wedding. Didn’t we only have an online proposal last week? You may now click the bride.

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