The Digg Effect

Selling love over the Internet or Online Dating or virtual matchmaking has become the Internet’s third killer app after e-mail and the web. Nearly one in four men who are online say they have done browsed the personals on some dating website at least once. There’s no doubt that money can’t buy you love but perhaps love is one of the few things people are ready to buy online.

“It’s a pleasure to meet your husband,” I told a friend, who got married recently. “Yeah, ” she responded, “I met him up on the Internet.” Years ago, such a thing would’ve been laughed off but this is the modern-age love. Log on to the internet, visit an online dating website, sign-up and fill up your profile with a few questions about yourself, your likes and dislikes etc. Attach your photo and you are all set ready for dating online!.

If you’re in your 40’s or above, you probably think this is weird but for the younger people, this is perfectly normal. After all, they’ve actually grown up with computers, in a connected world where you can find everything online - so why not find dates online? Times and relationships have changed over the years, but there’s really nothing new about the concept of online dating and there’s nothing new about the quest for love. In the earlier years, ads used to appear in the magazines for long-distance pen-pals looking for romance and now it’s all about internet dating. Thanks to the easy access to searchable databases of dating prospects and high-speed web access, that quest has just become a bit more fast and tech-savvy now.

You would also agree that for the last few decades, we have been spoilt of choices everywhere and we can pick and choose. With such a high number of choices it is very easy to lose the forest for the trees. When you want to sign-up with any one of the hundreds of online dating services sites on the web, you’ll find several such sites but there are only few dating sites, which can really provide a good service. Read through the dating site reviews if you want some help.

One thing you need to remember that nobody is perfect. Everyone there will have a listing of qualities, attributes, interests and some other stuff and if you are so inflexible that you will dismiss any potential match who is not perfect in every way than you are destined to be a lonely soul for a very long time. It may sound harsh but that is true. Online dating is an art. If you are new to online dating, it can be a little scary at first. You are sharing your details with thousands and sometimes millions of other people and there certainly are risks of rejection as is in the case of offline too.

But you need to have a positive approach and should be sure what you want from all this. How people would judge you is based on your dating profile and your photos you put up, so what you post there would create a first impression and decide how many people find it interesting. This doesn’t mean that you go and start posting fake pictures or pictures of celebrities – those are what many do and they sure don’t find what they want and they end up saying that online dating websites don’t work.

Instead, try to list all your positive attributes in your profile and things you really enjoy should be what you add in your interests. Let’s say if you are interested in golf, say so in your profile. Don’t mention it as just sports or to impress others write all the sports you have never heard of, otherwise you might end up dating with someone who loves water sports when you yourself actually hate it. So always try to mention those things in the profile, which reflect a true picture of you as an individual. Don’t focus on the things that you don’t want, just try to be yourself with a positive attitude.

And for photos, it is wise to put up photos of you only, not a photo where you are part of a group, or a photo with your family or your friends. Or, it might happen that you would get few messaged with enquiries about your gorgeous friend or your cousin. It’s your profile and your picture, so try to keep the focus on yourself. Online dating is definitely one of the most convenient ways to meet singles and most online dating services are open to nearly anyone who wants to try them. But just because its convenient, doesn’t mean you are going to get what you want without any effort. Be an active dater as only active daters are able to take true advantage of such services or even find a great relationship.

So don’t be shy! Many people put up a personals profile and wait for people to contact them. If you have taken the initiative to put up your profile online, then go the extra step and start contacting other people who’s profile you find interesting. Others have put up their profile online exactly for this purpose but don’t start contacting everyone listed on the website. Instead make use of the search functionality of the website and search for prospective partners. Most dating websites these days offer advanced search criteria so you should be able to narrow down prospective dating partners according to what you are looking for.

In the real world, you have a few minutes to make a good impression. In online dating, you may have even lesser time. This is why it is crucial for you to grab their attention as Readers on the Internet are used to browsing quickly and you may have as little as two minutes for getting that attention. So, don’t waste it, make the best use of your dating profile and Happy Online Dating!