Is It Possible to Find True Love on Online Dating Sites

One of the most important characteristics of the Internet is that it successfully and effortlessly mirrors real life like no other entertainment media.  The Internet allows one to listen to music from around the world, watch TV and videos, get information about topics ranging from how to create a Zen garden right down to how to make bombs and other explosives.  And it is also a great way to meet or reconnect with people.

One area that has seen tremendous growth in the past few years is online dating.  It used to be that one would have to go through every ad in the personal classifieds section of their local newspapers or magazines to find a suitable date.  The text ads would be brief and severely abbreviated, giving rise to acronyms like SWF (single white female) or GBM (gay black male).  People looking for love or friendship would have to decipher these codes and try to find out if the poster is interesting enough to write to.

When one narrows down the list of potential partners, he or she then writes them a letter and mails it to them.  Days, weeks and months pass before the seeker gets a reply from the ad poster.  After a couple of letters going back and forth, they might decide to meet.

Enter the Internet’s online dating Web sites.  These Web sites have profiles that come from the world over. Therefore, you are not limited by the number of people who sign up, or where they are from.  What’s more, the search field on online dating sites makes it easier for you to find your perfect potential partner; All you have to do is key in some keywords or some characteristics you’d like your potential mate to have, and you get pages of profiles of people who have the same interests as you, or are in the same area or state as you and other stuff.  This makes short-listing easy and you don’t have to sift through hundreds of profiles.

These profiles are also very informative.  Because the poster does not usually have a word limit, he or she can be as creative and can disclose as much personal information that he or she deems helpful in attracting a potential mate.

Online dating sites also make it easier and faster to correspond with each other.  Once you find someone you are interested in, the site usually provides a way for you to connect and contact each other.

One of the most attractive aspects of online dating sites, though, is the anonymity.  Online, you could be a young, hot, steamy seductress instead of the plain-looking, middle-aged librarian you really are.  You could be an experienced and muscled gigolo instead of that pimply 20-something guy behind a MacDonald’s counter.  You can choose to hide your personal details and contact information, making it safer for everybody concerned.

But then again, it is this same anonymity that makes online dating a tad frustrating.  How does one know if the other person is being honest or not?  A case in point is the fact that a lot of married men lie about their marital status and hook up with other people online.

So are online dating sites just another venue to meet frogs?  Yes.  As with the real world, online dating sites come with the usual crazed sex maniacs, crackpots and other unsavory characters.  However, that does not mean that you should shun it off altogether.  By far, online dating sites are much safer and more fun than going to a singles’ bar on a Friday night.

Many married couples today met each other through an online dating service.   We have heard it on TV, seen it happen to our friends, read about it in the newspapers.  It does happen in real life.  All you need to do is to make sure that you stay in safe online, trusting only those who have earned your trust.  It helps to be honest, too, from the very start and not post pictures that are not your own.

And just as in the real world, the best way to find love online is to establish a real friendship with the other party first.  This might mean an instant connection that leads to a marathon e-mail exchange or lengthy phone calls; or it could develop over a couple of months.  Once you have established friendship and trust, a personal meeting might lead to a march down the aisle. Who really knows?