You've heard about it. You've seen it in the movies. A lonely gal goes through the ups and downs of finding love on the internet. A lonely guy meets a girl online and they realize that even though they hate each other offline, their virtual lives are a different thing altogether (You've Got Mail).
Online dating and online personals are simply the consequence of this lovely thing we call the internet. The World Wide Web brings us humans closer together than ever before. With the explosion of email and instant messaging and Twitter and blogs, it's only natural that people would eventually use these tools to find true love in the online ether.
And while in its infancy taking out online personals and hooking up with strangers across the ether was looked upon as, well, weird, today it's a norm. Millions of people, young and old, across the world, are joining up and logging in to find their true love connection through the world wide web.
Whoever came up with the idea to charge for the service, to cover for allowing people to scroll through personal profiles and connect, must have been a genius, because today these sites have become virtual gold mines.
Popular dating sites like Yahoo Personals and eHarmony have seen their membership rates more than double. Online dating has definitely made it in the mainstream market. Back in August of 2003 over 40 million people visited an online dating site. Today that number just keeps growing.
Those who aren't familiar with online personals are probably baffled as to its popularity. The mechanics of finding true love on the net may seem improbable. But it's really not. Online dating works much like social networking. You have a profile where you put down all your details. You add personal and physical characteristics such as height, hair color and weight, along with religious affiliation, race, profession, whether or not you smoke or drink, and other pertinent details. The profile also includes a write up of what you're looking for in a partner.
Users contact and connect via site based messaging. Most online personal sites also have a system in place for users to express interest without actually saying anything concrete, e.g. winking or poking. The idea is that users can browse through profiles, find someone that tickles their fancy, contact them and eventually meet up, face to face, for a real date.
Most online daters will attest that they like online dating better than dating in meatspace. Online personals are much simpler. They are more specific, more discerning. In the offline world, you're limited to people you meet in your town. Online you can meet people from all over the globe. And you can filter out those people who don't fit your idea of a match and concentrate on profiles that actually do seem appealing.
Just maybe your soul mate is looking right at you from behind your monitor.
Of course the online dating scene isn't without its pitfalls. Many people tend to fib. They exaggerate their physical characteristics. They put down phony birth dates, they lower their weight, they make themselves taller, blonder, tanner than they really are. Some people even post fake pictures.
However, it's often easy to weed out the liars and find true love.
Online dating and online personals are simply the consequence of this lovely thing we call the internet. The World Wide Web brings us humans closer together than ever before. With the explosion of email and instant messaging and Twitter and blogs, it's only natural that people would eventually use these tools to find true love in the online ether.
And while in its infancy taking out online personals and hooking up with strangers across the ether was looked upon as, well, weird, today it's a norm. Millions of people, young and old, across the world, are joining up and logging in to find their true love connection through the world wide web.
Whoever came up with the idea to charge for the service, to cover for allowing people to scroll through personal profiles and connect, must have been a genius, because today these sites have become virtual gold mines.
Popular dating sites like Yahoo Personals and eHarmony have seen their membership rates more than double. Online dating has definitely made it in the mainstream market. Back in August of 2003 over 40 million people visited an online dating site. Today that number just keeps growing.
Those who aren't familiar with online personals are probably baffled as to its popularity. The mechanics of finding true love on the net may seem improbable. But it's really not. Online dating works much like social networking. You have a profile where you put down all your details. You add personal and physical characteristics such as height, hair color and weight, along with religious affiliation, race, profession, whether or not you smoke or drink, and other pertinent details. The profile also includes a write up of what you're looking for in a partner.
Users contact and connect via site based messaging. Most online personal sites also have a system in place for users to express interest without actually saying anything concrete, e.g. winking or poking. The idea is that users can browse through profiles, find someone that tickles their fancy, contact them and eventually meet up, face to face, for a real date.
Most online daters will attest that they like online dating better than dating in meatspace. Online personals are much simpler. They are more specific, more discerning. In the offline world, you're limited to people you meet in your town. Online you can meet people from all over the globe. And you can filter out those people who don't fit your idea of a match and concentrate on profiles that actually do seem appealing.
Just maybe your soul mate is looking right at you from behind your monitor.
Of course the online dating scene isn't without its pitfalls. Many people tend to fib. They exaggerate their physical characteristics. They put down phony birth dates, they lower their weight, they make themselves taller, blonder, tanner than they really are. Some people even post fake pictures.
However, it's often easy to weed out the liars and find true love.
About the Author:
With online personals on the rise, its a good idea for people to familiarise themselves with the industry before jumping in. Jayde Johanssen offers free online dating advice to help people on their way. This and other unique content '' articles are available with free reprint rights.
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