Online Dating - Statistics

An estimated 20 million people visit online dating sites at least once a month and some visit more than one site. That means the exposure of using an online service is quite vast. The exposure of the personal ads on the sites has high visibility resulting in meeting more people.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of Americans either have used an internet-dating site or know someone who has used a site. There are currently 306,053,538 people in the United States. That means over 94,876,000 people have used an internet dating service at one point or another! Talk about exposure of the profile and the opportunity of finding someone in the internet world.

More than 120,000 marriages were contributed to internet dating services matching up users in 2008. That is a lot of happy people who found love on the internet. With those numbers being a year old, the number of people making a vital connection continues to increase each year.

The statistics for 2003 show over three million people used paid internet dating services.

This number is almost six years old and the numbers increase every year. These people spent over 4 million for the dating services with an average of 9 for annual membership fees.

The estimates for 2008 show substantial financial growth for online dating services reaching over 2 million. The figures show how online dating is increasing by immense amounts. This also means the number of people seeking mates has increased and with that comes a higher number of people making love connections.

The statistics do not include the free websites for internet dating services. With places such as Yahoo Personals, and AOL Personals offering free internet dating services, the numbers of people using the internet to meet others is even higher than the paid dating sites.

Free internet dating sites do not have the same degrees of measuring the users, since the statistics are based on paid users and not free based sites.

Yet for anyone who has visited any of the free sites, there are a large number of members listed on the sites who have the same possibilities of creating a connection with another person.

Blind Dating or Online Dating: Choose Yourself

No one in this world can live alone for a long period of time. Each passing day becomes heavy on a human being without a partner to share the feelings. One always needs someone close enough to open their heart and live their life with them. We all have a family, and each member of the family has a role in your life. However, there are lot of desires and feelings in a human which cannot be fulfilled by a member or family. They need to choose a partner to develop a bonding. This is the reason people are often signing up on online dating sites and subscribing for dating services.

In this age of internet and cyber surfing, online dating has also joined. It happens many times that if you are out and down, then friends start suggesting you to go on a date. These friends end up fixing you on a date with an unknown person.

Although your friends don’t have any bad intentions, but you never know the kind of person, you are going to meet. They will prepare you with free dating tips too, but one can never establish a relationship with the other person, until and unless she/he feels the same way. Therefore, it is always better to opt for professional dating services and websites.

If you happen to go on a blind date and the other person is not compatible with you, then just imagine the situation that you will face. There will be no common interests and no level to agree on. The person might find themselves forced into a situation they never wanted to be in. One would keep looking at their watch, and it will feel like a standstill. In order to make the situation a disaster your date might come out to be someone who is exactly opposite to all your beliefs. No dating tips will come for help in that situation. The only wish you will be having at that time will be to get out of that situation gracefully.

On the other hand, imagine the situation where you are meeting someone you met online on some dating services website. You must have had many interactions with the person you are going to meet so you will feel comfortable and relaxed. If you have added this person on your online dating profile, then she/he must be having some match with you. In order to move forward with your conversation and make it interesting one must share common interests with their date so that a level of understanding could be achieved. No advice or dating tips are required for a date to make it successful if you start up at the right point.

The latter will make you much happy, and you will never be looking at your watch. If you strike a good match and feel a spark coming up in the relationship, then you will not even realize how time passed. However, exceptions are always there in both blind date and online dating as well. The ultimate choice is in your hand about going for a blind date or signing up for online dating services.

Online Dating Site Hints

The dating scene on the web is equally as hard as it is in real life. Online dating services enables you to search a greater market on the net compared to the non-virtual world. Some concerns of the online world include those of fake profiles and those pesky creepers who attempt to benefit from your vulnerability when posting yourself on the internet. This all can be avoided with the proper tips and precautions before signing up with an online dating site.

The first thing to check out before you sign up on a certain site is to ensure they promise a criminal record check on each of their dating profiles. This means that you won't worry about being matched or finding a person online that isn't really that person in real life. When you make your profile, always present actual details of yourself and try not to exaggerate the truth. This can lead to a fake relationship built online. When you finally meet the other individual you have been communicating with, they may be very put out by the lies you have told. You will discover in some online profiles, that individuals like to brag about themselves to make them look better. This has been found to be a big turnoff to many people that are searching profiles on the internet. Make sure you present your good side, but that it's not a fabrication. Be yourself. You will be more than surprised at the amount of people looking for you as you are.

Whenever you sign up to date on the internet, there's always a risk. Most of the online dating sites companies jump through a great deal of difficulties to make sure you are safe on their websites. Never be scared to share who you really are online for this is definitely the best way to meet that person who really suits you and your lifestyle.

Online Dating - Recognizing Dishonesty

Although online dating has seen tremendous growth over the years, and has become a more respectable method for meeting a romantic interest, there are still those who persist with being dishonest and deceptive.

Sometimes more serious forms of dishonesty occur, exceeding the usual misrepresentation of height and weight. They use the computer as an opportunity to conceal their true identity. To them, online dating is not real; it is imaginary. Moreover, as long as all contact is kept online, these people are content with taking on a whole new personality. Their intent is never to meet face-to-face; only to establish an online relationship. They may be unavailable, married or just playing a game; at your expense.

This conduct is the ultimate form of online deception because whatever they reveal is probably not true nor can be verified. In the meantime, you could be pulled into this person's scheme and waste a great deal of time or, worse, become emotionally involved.

One of the ways to combat this behavior, is to not engage in extended periods of emailing without working towards a meeting.

In most cases, someone who is not interested in moving communications forward, will not commit to meeting you in person. For example, I was befriended by someone who only wanted to write elaborate emails....mostly about himself. We never progressed to a phone conversation, let alone a meeting.

Becoming tired of the whole routine, I suggested that we start to talk by phone, he resisted and abruptly stopped communicating. Then some months later, he contacted me again and resumed his writing ways and the whole routine. That time I hastily broke off corresponding with him.

I also recall doubting the information he wrote in his profile, as my investigations did not support what he told me about himself.

Here are some suggestions on how to handle the online dater with questionable motives:

1) Apply a serious tone to your profile so that who you are and what you're looking for, is not misinterpreted. You don't want to invite those who are just "having fun". While your profile should not be a step-by-step instruction manual, it should not be so loosely written that it appears you'll go for anything.

2) Be wary of email messages that border on disrespect or don't seem sincere. For instance, someone who is throwing out compliments that are not specific to you and could apply to anyone, or making inappropriate statements relating to intimacy. They could be making the same statements to others.

3) Pay attention to someone who won't give direct answers to basic questions, a sign that they are hiding something and won't show you who they really are.

4) Do they sound too good to be true? Are they trying too hard to impress you with life experiences that seem too exaggerated? With this person, the truth may be difficult to come by.

5) Do they sound eager to move to the next level such as, phone calls or even a date and then act as if the desire never existed?; this is dishonest behavior, and you will never know where you stand with them.

To deter these types of personalities from contacting you, indicate in your profile that you will only respond to "serious inquiries". Most people who are online as a pastime, and to play games, look for those who are likely to play along with them. On the other hand, inserting a "serious inquiries only" statement in your profile can be a discouragement for them.

Finally, with the millions of people visiting online dating sites daily, it would be impossible to regulate internet dating dishonesty on a large-scale basis. However, individuals can protect themselves by recognizing and not encouraging the deception, safeguarding personal information and reporting to the authorities if one feels threatened.