It began with a link titled “How to tell if he’s your soulmate.” From there it was, “8 Dating Mistakes Women Make,” and then “25 Things to Keep Him Happy.”
Since the day I made Yahoo my homepage, I’ve been bombarded with these “helpful” articles: some of them announcing the top 10 unhealthiest drinks in America, others providing statistics about average salaries for recent graduates, and many promising insightful and life-changing advice about dating and relationships.
Many of the front page blurbs are indeed interesting and informative. I’ve learned about several breaking news stories simply by pulling up my web browser and glancing at the Yahoo homepage before navigating to my originally intended online destination. And the personal blurbs are entertaining and even useful – sometimes.
I like to picture the gurus of Yahoo sitting at their desks, completing their various tasks an hour or so before their daily Yahoo homepage story is due. The hard news people are typing furiously, completing mini-article after mini-article to post online. The health group is cruising online for shocking nutrition facts and the latest diet trends and a few stock photos they can paste into their pieces.
And then there’s the lifestyle and romance people, chatting over Chinese takeout and discussing how to tell if the person you’re dating is your soulmate.
“You can’t stand not being around her,” offers Bob, the guy who watches too many chick-flicks with his sister on the weekends.
“You think about him all the time,” shouts Stacy around a mouthful of lo mein. Someone else compiles five or so of the best ideas and up it goes on the website for thousands of people to study and apply to their individual love life.
I’ll admit I was interested at first. I clicked the links and even read them out loud to my roommate, both of us raising our eyebrows at the cliché tips and pointers. I quickly realized people take this as seriously as the horoscopes in a magazine or weather forecast for Abilene (both highly undependable).
I can imagine one day after I’ve grown old with my soulmate and had dozens of grandchildren, one of them will come to me with boy drama and ask, “Hey, Grandma, how did you know Grandpa was the one for you?”
From the Yahoo homepage, my dear. One day it popped up, I read the article and I just knew.
Not likely. Instead, I have learned you can’t put stock in everything you read online or anywhere for that matter. While many websites and articles do provide helpful and applicable information, others must be taken for what they are: lighthearted writing meant to fill a homepage.
