by Justin Price

Created on: September 12, 2009   Last Updated: September 15, 2009

Being shy or nervous about finding a prom date is a thing of the past with all the new social networking sites out there. I didn't have a girlfriend and was able to use this website called Prom Date Depot to find a prom date within three days of making a profile. The best part was that two other girls contacted me afterwards and I was able to go to their prom too because they were from different schools and their proms were on different days.

When I went to my junior prom, I did it the old fashioned way and just went around asking girls or asked my other friends if they knew someone who didn't have a date yet. That didn't work too good because I didn't have a huge network and most of the people were already taken. You have a much better chance of finding a date when you know everyone you are asking is single or actively looking for a prom date.

I was once shy about approaching a girl and popping the question about whether or not she would accompany me to the prom. If I asked, she would know that I liked her and then it would be uncomfortable from then on or I would get a devastating "no" and I would have to try to maintain composure and save face. When I asked out the girls online through the website, I got a couple "no's" , but I didn't take it personally and didn't get as scared. By the time I got their answer I had already asked a bunch of other girls. In other words, it didn't hurt my feelings and it didn't bother me too much.

The other thing I like about the website was that people could set a price for being a prom date-sorta like a prom date for hire. Here and there people were offering their "services," anywhere from $25-$300 to accompany you to prom. In general, the people who charged were a lot better looking and I probably would have gone that route, but I was already too broke from renting my tuxedo, buying the tuxedo, and setting reservations for dinner.

My friends thought I was crazy to go to prom with someone I didn't know personally, but it actually made it more exciting. I was able to have a more fulfilling conversation, because I didn't already know everything about the other person and ended up making alot of new friends during the afterparty. We continued to date for year on and off after that date.

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