The world is becoming increasingly more dependent on technology. We use our computer to do our banking, shop for gifts, keep in touch with our family…and find people to date. Online dating has seen a huge leap in popularity over the past ten years. Huge databases of singles’ profiles exist on some of the biggest dating sites like eHarmony.com and Match.com.

But do these dating sites really work? Can you expect to meet someone special online? In a word: Yes. Consider these statistics:

• 31% of adults in America say they know someone who has used an online dating service. (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Report: Online Dating, March 2006)
  
• Online Dating Magazine estimates that more than 20 million people visit at least one online dating service a month. (Online Dating Magazine - 2007)
• Online Dating Magazine estimates more than 120,000 marriages a year resulting from online dating. (Online Dating Magazine - 2007)

If you are sitting on the edge of the pool debating whether or not to jump in—now is the time! There are hundreds of dating sites; some of which are general purpose and others cater to people with specific interests—religion, ethnicity or income level, for example. Take your time to explore some of the sites and find the one that looks most comfortable to you.

Take care to fill out your profile as honestly and completely as possible. Many people have fallen into the trap of lying on their profile, putting old pictures of themselves before they gained 20 lbs., or making claims about their job/education/goals that turn out to be untrue. This is just setting yourself up for failure. You must have the confidence that there is someone out there who will love you for who you are.

Once you make a connection on your dating site, try chatting with the person online and on the phone before you commit to an in-person date. When you finally do make a date, be sure to meet the person in a public place. Do not give away anything personal like your address or financial information. And be sure to let your friends and family know who you are meeting and when you’re expected back.

Online dating is easy and fun. Take the leap and try it out…you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It seems that the free online dating sites are taking over the world. They have really picked up momentum and traffic…with the number one dating site in the world now a free one. I haven’t personally tried any of them (I’m a taken gal so I don’t need to obviously) but wonder if they hold up to the hype. I think it’s a good concept given it’s similar to ours in nature…but wonder if their members really take them seriously. Here are some free online dating sites to check out if you’re in the market for someone new:

Free Online Dating Sites:

1. Plentyoffish.com - according to Mashable.com, the net’s largest social networking news site, now reports that Plentyoffish.com is the number one dating site in the world and the number six most trafficked website on the internet today. That’s pretty phenomenal considering the story on this site. It was started by one guy in 2003 who ran it as a one man show all the way until 2008 when he finally hired a customer service rep. If you think about that in the big picture…similar sites like eHarmony.com and Match.com (both paid sites) have hundreds of people running those sites at any given time…you can see what a big deal that site has been in the web world. People flock to this site like flies so there’s plenty of fish to choose from here.

2. OkCupid.com – this site actually started out marketing itself on the premise that it offered a cool “dating persona test” and the site just took off from there. Now it’s a full service free online dating site that boasts some big traffic numbers and their growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

3. DownToEarth.com – this site is Match.com’s attempt to cut into the free online dating sites market. Obviously this site is backed by one of the big boys so it’s clean, professional, and appears to be in good order. I think I’d probably try this one first and then work my way around to the others later if I was actually in the market.

With so many choices these days for online dating sites, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out which one is the right one for you so you just have to take a leap of faith and start navigating your way through the online dating maze. Each site has their own unique features to draw new users in so decide which ones are important to you and go for it.

I know from my own personal experience that dating sites actually work. I met my fiancé Shawn on MatchMaker.com over nine years ago and we’ve been going strong ever since. So I’m living proof that they do work so take the time to take the questions seriously if that’s the premise for the matchmaking or whatever they request of you because after all…love is truly what makes the world go ‘round!

WithLuv,

Paula ;)