Who uses Online
Dating?
Online dating was considered a little sleazy just a few
years back, but things have changed. The use of online dating, online
personals and matchmaker sites is growing rapidly and statistics
show that these people are quite often 30+ professionals with busy
lives and good educations.
What types of online dating is there ?
There are thousands of online dating sites, each offering
different services ranging from general dating sites to very specialized
special interest online dating. broadly speaking though most of
these fall into 3 categories
Matchmaker dating sites
Matchmaker sites use personality
tests or compatibility tests to try to match people. Some of these
matchmaker sites like eHarmony and True.com use very in depth psychological
tests and they leave less freedom to the user when it comes to choice.
They are usually a little more expensive than other types of online
dating sites but seem to produce very good results for those looking
for long-term relationships and marriage.
Online Personals
Online Personals type dating sites
leave more freedom to the user. Each member will post a profile,
usually with a picture and important details about themselves. Members
can run searches and email or use instant messengers to make contact
with people that interest them. These type of online dating sites
vary enormously. Some sites are full of features to help with the
search, and fun features like video and voice chat. Many of the
larger online dating sites like AmericanSingles and Meetic incorporate
features from matchmaker sites, like simple compatibility question
and answers and matches by email.
Video Dating
Online Dating has come along way,
and with the advances in technology a newer type of online dating
service has sprung up - video dating. On these sites people can
connect up web cams and not only see a static image and read the
profiles of other members, they can chat and video conference real
time. This type of online dating site seems to be very popular especially
with the younger dating generation, but is often associated with
slightly risky dating sites of a more adult nature.
Online dating safety
One of the major concerns of people
considering online dating is - is it safe? The answer is of course
there are risks involved, but so are there risks involved with meeting
people in a night club or at the local park. Most online dating
sites now have help and advice sections which tell you the do's
and don'ts of online dating. most of the advice is common sense
and advice using the same caution you would with any other type
of social meetings.
Many of the larger more professional online dating sites have recently
become very aware of these fears that people have and are working
hard to put them at ease. True.com has gone as far as introducing
background checks on its USA members and married members and those
with criminal backgrounds are not allowed to post a profile.
Is there such a thing as Free online
dating ?
The simple answer is -yes. there
are some online dating sites that you can join and use all of there
services for free. most of these gain revenue from advertisements
they carry on their web sites. Some online dating sites start off
offering free services to build up their database of members and
promote their brand then swap over to paid sites later. One thing
to remember though is that you will find a much higher proportion
of fake profiles on these online dating sites, and on paid subscription
sites you will find people who are much more committed and serious
about finding a relationship.
Many subscription based online dating sites offer some of their
services for free. most let you post your profile, search and browse,
but some will let you use live chat and reply to emails from full
members. A good way to get a taste of online dating is to try some
of the sites that offer free trials.
Some statistics about Online dating
- In 2004
the average monthly unique visitors to online dating sites was
U.S.: 40 million (CBC
News)
- In the first half of 2003, U.S.
consumers spent $214 million on internet dating sites. That’s
up by 75 per cent from the same period in 2002 (CBC
News)
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