About a week ago, a close buddy of mine tied the nuptial knot. It was a colourful ceremony and my friend was overjoyed that the day had finally come. As one of his groom's men, it was natural that I had to donate efforts to ensure that the day was a success.

One of the tasks I was saddled with was to give the toast at the reception. Given that we both shared apathy for the opposite sex for a reasonable while, I was thus in the know when the relationship started. What was shut out of my knowledge was the blow by blow account of how the relationship was initiated. By the time I debriefed him of the genesis of the relationship to prepare me for the toast, it was apparently a union activated by the tools that have come to define our time.

It was a relationship primarily cooked in the crucible of the social media. The 'business' of transacting relationships have changed in a great deal. For both the timid and the brave, the platform has been levelled -because of the relative ease with which contacts are now made and such contacts are sustained on social media. For the timid ones, social networks are a huge relief. And for the bold, social media means providing more options to exercise the gallantry that comes with wooing a lady, especially when the overtures are not hitting the right chord with her.

My friend, decent and brainy, met a lady on one of Nigeria's most prominent fora - nairaland.com about three years ago. Their mutual interests would see them sustain the friendship till date. They took it off nairaland.com and exchanged Blackberry's Personal Identification Number (PIN) and, with that, it was easier to say 'Hello' every now and then. Somewhere along the line, the lady who would later say 'I do' to my friend was used as a digital profile (DP) by my friend's friend.

Curiosity would lead my friend to inquire about the identity of the 'DPed lady.' It turned out that both of them work in the same organisation in Lagos. My friend, apparently disposed to being in a relationship, was willing to strike acquaintance with her. The introduction was made; of course, still using the instant messaging facility of Blackberry. Gradually, they were finding common grounds after intense pings and were becoming enamoured of each other.

 They agreed to meet and see each other physically. My bet is that they both loved what they saw and the new media form of mobile phone communication took over, given the little time that work pressure and demands permitted. On a number of instances whenever I'm at his place, my friend would come in with his phone glued to his ears, say a brief 'Hello' and continue the discussion for hours with the lady,  who later became his wife two weekends ago.

After giving me the gist, I teased him about his method. But it also struck an adventurous note in me. Research today holds that the third most common way to find a partner next to meeting through friends and in public places is the use of communication technologies. Before now, it strictly took having a network of friends in various social groups to meet someone one would eventually consider dating. Way before then, at least in this part of the world, it was parents who bore the task of using their social networks to seek for someone befitting for their daughters or sons.

The false sense of intimacy that a network like Facebook will allow for with a total stranger is an ideal solution for an introvert. The only challenge will be how to sustain such when eventually it's time to transit to a face to face status. There are instances of very humorous people on Facebook,  turning humourless when one meets them in the real world. Meaning the online personality is different from the offline capacity! This is the part anyone willing to have a relationship on the social media wings would have to sort out - letting the potential partner know the real you before meeting so that hopes are not dashed.

When it comes to the formation, sustenance and even dissolution of relationships, the role of social networks is a central one. We find a potential mate and we stalk the person online by checking his or her comments and when last a status was updated. There is also that public display of affection on Twitter et al that some prefer while others will prefer to keep their relationship off social networks. The digital togetherness these platforms provide for couples, especially those in long-distance relationships, is rich enough to lubricate the relationship. Those days when long-distance relationships were endangered are gone.

There are instant messaging options – live video chats with Skype is possible; there is also free phone chat using Viber; pictures can also be shared with each other as post cards using Postagram. The couple can also play video games like star war and chess together while online, they can also use Google hangout to watch live Youtube content together on different screen, amongst others.

Yes, we find love in strange places and social networks are now one of such. And when relationships are broken, we block, 'unfriend' or 'unfollow' one another other even though the entanglement makes it nearly impossible to totally part ways because of our mutual friends.

 There will soon be a new generation that will know nothing of how difficult it once was to woo a lady,  given the social media assistance there are now.

It was an elated me that went ahead to deliver the toast to the friends and family members present at the ceremony. I recall toasting to friendship and to the connecting power of the social media. The verdict by another mischievous mutual friend of ours present at the event was that I had offered a power point presentation in lieu of a toast! I am not sure of what to think until I see the video! Meanwhile, here's wishing the couple a blissful married life.

Culled from The punch

Alrite o! Make den nor come de report problems for here later o! Nice one sha ...make den carray go one time. No dulling.

Nawa ooooo! Y dem naw cum dey blow grammer? Tink we no go scol? Nawa ooooo! abeg! I don losse intrest FƠ͡я̲̅ d topic! Mtchewww!

Soon, seun will turn to marriage counselor and match-maker

Mesef go luv ooo




Meanwhile,











What was the last word?
#boring..

HML

Congrat to them but show us their pics

Cool

Too much grammer and too many talk........ any ways, wishing them HML.

*In wizkid's voice*
I'm looking for Caro

Did I just read the whole thing?

cool story

congrats. may your union be fruitful. as the membership of nairaland grows so too will your joy and happiness grow exponentially.
.
wait o. who will pay Seun. the husband or the wife ... lol

But why na?
The post is too long!
Happy married life to them.

@ op, so what u mean is that......
Oga seun dey share wife for [b]NAIRALAND[\b] abi

ADAOBI and SPONGEBACK...... Get ready!!!

Happy married life to them...pls let's have their pics nd nairaland names too

CONGRATS TO YOU AND YOURS.

Where mi wifey Feed_me_more at?

Rasta a fi meet yuh inna rasclart nl as well.

Dun noe!

Lol!! After they'll start blaming divorce on the country!!!

wow

I won't believe this until OP, you tell us their real names and the monikers they use here no Nairaland.






With pictures.

fr3do: Did I just read the whole thing?

Lol