Online Dating

Online dating has been around for a few years time. But not online dating sites itself. The one being referred to is the online forums where anonymous “chatters” engage in a one on one conversation with someone. It is a virtual matchmaking that is usually un-moderated.

Today, online dating sites has similar functions as the popular network builder site there is namely Friendster, Facebook, LinkedIn, Hi5, and MySpace. Despite the similarity in the registration process, online dating sits such as Casual Kiss, Yahoo Personals, and Match.com to name a few, focuses on the gender of your preferred partner, its race, and age.

Earlier, online dating sites have limited themselves to identifying themselves as “male” and “female” alone. You may ask “What about those who are members of the 3rd sex?” In tune with the changing society, there are some sites that have adopted the idea of the gay gender and have added “gay” and “lesbian” amongst the list. Even in the registration portion, you can also specify which gender group you would like to attract. So if one member is male and is opting for a same gender interaction, they can indicate “looking for: male”.
According to the Online Publishers Association or OPA and comScore Networks, Americans spent almost $ 470 Million on online dating alone last 2004 which increased by 30% last 2005. This makes the online dating trend on top of the high ground, followed by pornography.

 By this increasing popularity, Wired Magazine fearlessly predicted that “20 years from now, the idea that someone looking for love without looking for it online will be silly… Seredipity is the hallmark of inefficient markets, and the marketplace of love, like it or not, is becoming more efficient.”
Does this mean that, amidst the trend of convenience today, is online dating the next step?
Too Good to be Perfect

When utilizing online dating sites, you can’t blame yourself, or the site moderator for being oblivious of what the site has to offer. There are also obvious discriminations between free members and paying members in terms of providing you with unbelievable “matches” in which they claim that is compatible with your profile.

These sites are NOT lie proof. There is no way a member can find out whether or not what the profile states is true. And neither does the site itself can detect that the member has lied on their registration.
Being not a lie proof site can lead to non-felon proof site. This makes it a perfect location to scope out potential victims to lure them into the traps of stalking, fraud, sexual violations, and worse, death.
So it is best to do a background check on the people who want to “add” you as part of their contacts list. If it’s impossible, try to limit your profile to the ones you know enough.
A Few Specks of Light

There are those who found “true love” online and have ended up happy. That is why you can’t blame those who patronize online dating.
But despite the idea of happiness existing in that idea, it won’t hurt to be wary of these sites.