How a Writer Found Truth in False Advertising with a 'Black Swan' Dating Profile

Bored with her own misery after a breakup, Los Angeles writer Margaret Wappler created a second online dating profile for herself where she could channel her darker thoughts into something more stylish: an alter-ego with the face of a Swedish pop star and the charm of Natalie Portman's title character in "Black Swan." Wappler shared the sordid details in her piece in the Los Angeles Times: I figured if I was going to go psycho, I might as well have fun with it. My Black Swan profile was somewhat like me but way more devilish. Unlike my White Swan profile, where I listed my favorite novels and interest in a committed relationship, Black Swan was a romantic nihilist. The only line of her self-summary read: "Online dating is the death of all meaning." In a perverse salutation, I attributed the quote to the miserable, and long deceased, French theorist Michel Foucault. Needless to say, the Black Swan had many admirers. What real person would risk sounding like a downer, even in an unreal environment like an online dating site? Next to the other girls, who were all putting their best ballet flats forward, the Black Swan had something better to offer: a sense of humor. The greatest danger of showing your dark side on the Internet is being misunderstood in irreversible and career-ending ways. Under those circumstances, how can anyone truly be themselves online? The Black Swan would have a hard time with the latest crop of online dating sites, as Facebook plugins are eroding the anonymity of the Internet so thoroughly that some would demand a real profile so they could put her counterpart's social network on display. Others would send the Black Swan into a video chat room, dashing her suitors' illusions about her identity before she'd even had a chance to blow them off with an email. How the writer ultimately bowed out of her online costume party - and with whom - will make you want to get off Facebook, dust off your old Internet handle, and get back out there. To read the rest of the story, click here. Image by Galushko Sergey via Shutterstock.

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How a Writer Found Truth in False Advertising with a 'Black Swan' Dating Profile

Devon Glenn

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Devon Glenn