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With the click of a mouse those looking for love can have hundreds of options.
Internet dating has become a popular way of meeting people.
Technology has brought an entire world of information to our fingertips, and now a variety of online dating services have emerged. They help thousands find lifelong partners or simply find people to have fun with.
Instead of going to a packed bar looking for love, millions have turned to a sea of opportunities: the Internet.
Psychologists say 5 or 6 years ago, meeting people online had a stigma attached, but in the 21st Century, courting takes place on the World Wide Web.
Dr. Patricia Petretic, psychologist, tells us, “I think as we have gotten busier in our society and people are finding it difficult to have the time or the location in our busy lives to meet people. It seems like a very efficient way to start screening people and looking at people who might have something in common.”
Internet dating services allow people to quickly learn about others by reading their personality profile. You can read about family values, religion, hobbies, goals, and physical attributes, then narrow your search by weeding out those who don’t have enough things in common with you.
To begin dating online, choose a website, post a free personality profile and wait for responses, or pay between $20 and $40 a month to contact those who interest you.
Dr. Petretic says, “It’s very time-effective and you would not necessarily meet those people in your day-to-day living. You're exposed to many more people. That’s the plus side.”
Susan, aged 23, and her 61-year-old mother, Jane, both tried Internet dating.
Susan says, “I was looking for someone who was not interested in going out and partying all the time. Someone who was more interested in the intellectual things.” After 5 months of online dating Susan met Wyatt, a flight instructor who is persuing a Masters degree in business.
"He proposed and we are getting married here in Bella Vista," says Susan. “I was looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with. I am not very picky but I knew what i wanted, and I know I would not have met him any other way, so it was fate."
Jane, Susan's widowed mom, turned to the World Wide Web looking for companionship, not a mate. "I have met quite a few men. I actually met a man in Dallas and I am seeing someone in Kansas right now," Jane says. “I’ve met some really great guys. I’ve never been afraid, never been nervous. I’m very, very careful though."
Along with the advantages come the disadvantages like people posting false information about themselves.
Dr. Petretic cautions, “At the same time, it allows people to be deceptive and it breeds a very quick intimacy that probably is not the same as you would develop in a face-to-face relationship.” “It’s something that we typically take more time to build. It seems to be there initially, and if people are not candid and honest, I think people can be preyed upon.
Take precautions. Never put identifying information on your profile, like your phone number, address or name. Talk via anonymous e-mail and chat rooms until you feel comfortable talking on the phone, then plan a meeting.
Lieutennant Brown says, “It might be a good idea to be amongst friends for the first few dates. Make sure it’s in public, make sure you have a way to get out of the situation of you feel uncomfortable, either by having a cell phone, having a ride lined up, or drive to the place and don’t get picked up and taken somewhere."
We don’t want to scare you. We want you to take the same precautions if you met someone in a coffee shop or a night club.
The Internet simply gives you many singles to choose from. USA Today reports half of all singles in America -- that’s about 40 million -- have tried online dating, and e-Harmony, an online dating service, says since it began 3 years ago, about 3000 couples have gotten married using their service.
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