The traditional methods of courtship have taken an interesting turn as MySpace removes the hassle of the eyelash-batting, hair-flipping and smug smiles in the wooing process, and gets down to serious dating business.

Senior Robert Dillon met his girlfriend, Bridney Reese of Stockton, Calif., through MySpace.

“We started off as friends around March last year,” said Robert. “Then around September, I asked her out. We’ve now been together for about a year and a month.”

Robert saw Bridney’s picture on MySpace on his ex-girlfriend’s top-eight, was immediately drawn and asked his ex-girlfriend to introduce him.

After getting to know each other for six months, Robert asked Bridney out when he moved from San Diego to San Ramon.

The relationship has come a long way since, as they both share a phone line and contribute money out of their pockets each month to be able to talk to each other.

“I only get to see her once a month, but it’s totally worth it,” said Robert.

Throughout the year, they’ve gotten to know each other better. When Bridney visited Robert and his dad in San Diego, his dad took a great liking to her, claiming that she was the sweetest girl he had ever met.

Senior Alex Beckerman has a similar story of how he met his girlfriend, Staci Chatfield, who attends Northgate High in Walnut Creek.

“She was cute. She had something others don’t,” said Alex, who also met Staci through his ex-girlfriend’s top-eight. “I mean, how many people do you meet that you talk to for five hours on the first day you meet them?”

Alex and Staci got to know each other for two weeks before they began dating. They met each other after a week of talking online, and celebrated their three-month anniversary and Staci’s birthday on Cal High’s homecoming night.

Anatomy teacher Eileen Mantz believes MySpace dating for adults is not necessarily a bad thing. Mantz has a friend who found an attractive guy while browsing MySpace one day, messaged him, and is now engaged to marry him after a year of dating.

“If done correctly and cautiously, it could be fun and could lead to a successful relationship,” said Mantz. “As for younger people, I fear what may happen with the many online predators.”

Senior Derek Wong shares Mantz’s views.

“There are crazy underage kids who shouldn’t be on MySpace,” said Derek. “They’re just not mature enough.”

Derek met Jackie Moore of Castro Valley through MySpace and dated her for a couple of months.

“MySpace is a great way of meeting new people that you don’t really get a chance to meet everyday,” said Derek.

Derek also added another interesting perspective to the advantages of Internet dating.

“Through MySpace, it’s also easy to find out if your girlfriend or boyfriend is cheating on you,” said Derek.

Junior Danny Harrold had promised himself that he would never succumb to online dating.

But that changed when he received a message from sophomore Staci Barranti on MySpace one day.

“She was different,” said Danny. “She was what I was looking for in a person.”

The two really hit it off and began dating a week later. Both Danny and Staci anticipate growing closer and staying together far into the future.

Parents and friends of the daters seem to have different reactions to this trend of MySpace dating.

“My parents didn’t care, but my friends thought it was the coolest thing ever,” said Alex.

Staci said her dad believes that she spends too much time on MySpace.

“My mom loves Danny,” said Staci.

Although a lot of relationships have worked out wonderfully, people have had bad experiences through MySpace dating, too.

“The problem with MySpace is that you’re never really going to get to know the person you’re talking to because people act differently on the Internet,” said a senior girl who chose to remain anonymous because she used to date a Cal High student she met through MySpace.

Government teacher John Bates is strongly against this trend of Internet dating.

“MySpace dating is dangerous,” Bates said. “Don’t do it.”

It is a common belief that although success stories prevail on MySpace, even those who prospered in their relationships do not advise dating someone that is not already an acquaintance or can be vouched for by common friends or MySpace buddies.

“I think the whole not meeting someone before, not knowing them at all before dating them on MySpace, that’s kind of weird,” said Staci.

Robert agreed that dating a stranger whose true identity could not be vouched for is another story altogether.

“Bridney is one of my ex-girlfriend’s cousins,” Robert said. “I wouldn’t message some random chick over the Internet.”