Internet dating in Iraq

By at 5:34 pm Monday, Mar 5

Snip from a Los Angeles Times piece by Alexandra Zavis about internet dating in Iraq, and the online sociology of warzones:
Young Iraqis, trapped in their homes in the mean streets of this bloodstained capital, are increasingly turning to the Internet to chat with relatives, hang out with friends and search for love.

Such virtual relationships offer a refuge of sorts from numbing isolation and fear during a time of staggering violence. But all too often they are mirages – a seductive reminder of a life now tantalizingly out of reach for most.

"They are like birds in a cage," says Anas Attar, 22, one of a growing number of businessmen cashing in on the demand by selling access to their satellite-based Internet connections.

Link. Image: Saad Khalaf / LAT. (Thanks, Butcher!)

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