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Internet Cafe... If you remember back in the beginning of internet, most people online had a dial-up connection. DSL was a very expensive option at the time and so were computers. Many people couldn't afford these luxuries and were only able to access the internet in public places that charged to use their computers. From experience, one of the first foreign countries I had I/M contacts with was the Philippines. they speak English and are familiar with Western culture. It was commonplace to find a bunch of pool their money and rent time at a computer in a room with other computer users. Typically it was in a cafe that served food and beverage. They would take turns making video chats with friends. In this case, it was women looking for men. One dating site had to block ISP's from some Asian countries because they were constantly hitting on guys. Complaints from the users to management forced this ban. Like many things, that seemed to die down for a number of years. The percentage of members from Asia (on standard dating sites) appeared to have dropped. Having chatted with many, around 2005 when America had financial trouble some of the women were saying American men weren't as interested in foreign women simply due to economics. Recently, I've see a group of new profiles from young Philippine women and they are all using the same city/district. While many have 3G and 4G cellphones, I haven't ruled out they are again gathering at public places that offer free Wi-Fi similar to the way they used internet cafes of a decade ago. This past weekend, I decided to renew my library card. The local library is under renovation and they have a trailer on the side of the building. To my surprise, they had a row of computers on some desks and 20 or so people using and waiting in line to use computers. I envisioned the internet cafe scenario. |
