Dating 2.0: Looking for Love in All the Online Places

With Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social networking sites--in addition to actual online dating sites--meeting people online has never been easier. But is it enough?

By Ashley Laurel Wilson
Fri, February 13, 2009

CIO — Sometimes looking for love takes a back seat these days—especially with demanding schedules that include working long hours and furthering educational goals. While technology is a very large factor in causing people stay so busy, it's also helping people connect more, even in the romantic sense.

Not every person who dates online is as horribly geeky as Napoleon Dynamite's brother Kip—there are some cool geeks out there just waiting for you to meet them. In fact, more than forty million Americans have tried online dating at one time or another and some have walked away very happy.

"My wife refuses to let me try it. Go figure."

Bryan C Webb, technical marketing professional from Ontario Canada

Though different people swear by certain online dating websites, the number one free online dating website in the U.S., U.K. and Canada is Plentyoffish.com, run by CEO Markus Frind. Since its 2003 launch, the site has grown by word of mouth to more than 13 million page views each day. According to Frind, there's always a jump in site traffic between the day after Christmas through the Wednesday after Valentine's Day, as well as just before Thanksgiving. Singles tend to join the site around family-related holidays—anytime they're reminded of being single, Frind says.

The mastermind behind this website, Frind claims anyone in his position has to be a romantic after reading so many happy stories from users who've met someone great on his site. "It's part of the reward of doing this site," he says. (Frind, however, met his own girlfriend offline.)

Denver-based Jon Freeman, however, chose to use an online dating website to as a platform to increase his chances of finding a suitable person.

"I was a two time 'loser' having used less than intelligent methods to find the 'right person' and figured I needed a better process—the Web gave me just that ability (I know, so romantic)," Freeman says. "I'd tried other sites and even online personals, but in the end I went for the site with the most people on it to increase my odds on finding the perfect one."

While using Matchmaker.com, Freeman realized that the "percent match function" wasn't helping him so he made some minor changes—his favorite color turned from orange into blue and his pet lizard became a dog—which actually helped him meet his future wife. Within a year of their initial online connection, Freeman got married. "We finish each others sentences and rarely argue or fight. We are very much in love with each other," Freeman says, still satisfied with his online dating experience.

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