Dating more than one person is fine

America has brought us many wonderful things: giant burgers, deep-fried bacon, James Franco, and the concept of hob or 'multi-dating'.

As Hugh Wilson pointed out on MSN Him dating multiple people is no longer a massive taboo. Dating more than one person at a time is actually a good thing.

Now, we're not talking about cheating – that's never a good idea, unless you have Bond-like espionage skills, and even then, can you be bothered with the guilt, double costs on Valentine's Day and Christmas and twice the dramas? No – multi-dating is just that: you go on a few dates with a few cool people until you pick the one you like.

Far from being deceitful or slutty (we're not suggesting you take them all for a full test drive – this isn't a used car dealership) multi-dating actually makes perfect sense: we're all so busy nowadays that no-one wants to waste four dates kissing a frog when they could have been out dancing with the Prince.

When you first start looking for a partner it's easy to get a little bit desperate and mistake the waiter with bad personal hygiene sitting in front of you for your last shot at happiness. But if you're multi-dating that little stab of 'agghhh I'm going to die alone and be eaten by cats' fear is diminished somewhat and you can start to view your dates objectively. Not putting all your eggs in one basket takes some of the pressure off. It makes it easier to go back to basics: to make dating all about meeting someone, doing something fun and seeing if you get on. You shouldn't go on a date thinking 'this could be THE ONE', you should go on a date thinking, this could be a nice evening, and take it from there.

Dating is meant to be commitment free or else it would be called a relationship. You'd become engaged as soon as you swapped numbers. That's why people have 'the talk' and update Facebook relationship statuses and post vomity love notes on each other's walls.

It pays to keep your options open for a bit – multi-dating gives you a chance to weed out the men you don't like. It's difficult to choose the right coat on the first viewing, let alone a boyfriend. At least this way you won't end up with buyers remorse and a purchase that's left in the closet.

The only drawback to multi-dating is that you need Rain Man-like memory recall. It's really difficult to keep track of whether John or James worked in I.T, or more importantly, which one has the deadly nut allergy and who hates coffee (though a packet of Revels could be a quick and enjoyable way of figuring this out).

At the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with multi-dating, as long as everyone is on the same page (or it's still all delightfully vague). Odds are, the other person is doing it too.

Periwinkle Jones has written for big name brands such as Cosmopolitan, Men's Health and Company both sides of the screen. Picked by Huffington Post as one of Twitter's funniest women she can most often be found there under the moniker @peachesanscream.

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