ShareThisThe (Virtual) Dream Date
How popular is internet dating? One of the original online dating websites, Match.com, reports more than 15 million members who visit on a regular basis to meet people. Over the last ten years personal ads have flooded cyberspace, where people look for dates based on their own criteria for an ideal partner.
To meet the growing audience of online dating enthusiasts, web companies have created sites that match people by general criteria. There are also niche internet dating sites allowing visitors to scour personal ads specifically for Christians, Jews, African Americans, Russians, gays, and other unique identifiers.
Many online dating sites are free to use; some charge only when a member wishes to respond to a personal ad; others charge monthly membership dues.
How to Meet People Online
If you're hoping to post your own personal ad, you might surf the web for an online dating site that best matches your intentions. Typically, you'll be asked to register and, for a profit-making site, pay for membership. Next, you'll fill out a personal profile where you set your dating parameters for the digital match-maker: age, religious or ethnic preferences, physical attributes, recreational or intellectual pursuits, and so on.
Most online daters post a photograph and a personal statement about themselves. When you're ready, you use the dating site computer to sift through the possibilities. You email your matches and other searchers will contact you. Following a little email tag, parties generally move ahead to the telephone and then schedule dates for coffee or other activities. As in traditional dating, you set your own pace.
