The old adage “misery loves company” is truer than ever. As our withering economy spawns feelings of hopelessness, more and more people are trying to find love. In a world where everything — wealth, employment, success – seems temporary, people are beginning to see that the prospect of finding a long-term commitment is important. This is the reason behind eHarmony’s recent 20% increase in user registration and OkCupid’s similar 50% spike.

Online dating services are a great money-saver. Rather than going out and spending a good hundred dollars on drinks for someone that may not even end up taking home, you spend up to $60 a month, to interact with millions of singles.

Certain dating websites, such as E-Harmony, strive to appeal to singles looking for more long-term commitments, which is what more and more people are trying to obtain. While serial-dating and short-term commitments mean shelling out a lot of dough to impress your date, long-term relationships are less superficial and require far less money to maintain. While you could spend hundreds of dollars on a night on the town with a new date every week, you could alternately spend half that with a stay-at-home movie night with your long-term squeeze.

Finally, people are opening themselves up to dating prospects they would have never otherwise considered. Many singles are dating people who live further away or who are not they’re “usual type”, allowing them to look for love in places they wouldn’t normally be searching. Internet dating services allow you to make this switch, by simply changing your preferences in your profile, rather than going to a singles bar that’s part of different scene or out of town, potentially creating an uncomfortable situation.

It’s a common situation: the missed connection. It could be a lost phone number or an exchange of glances across a room. Whatever kind of connection you’ve missed, they always end up with you wondering “what if…”.

You’re standing on the corner, getting ready to cross the street when, all the way across the 6-lane highway, you make eye contact with the most gorgeous guy you’ve ever set eyes on standing at the bus stop. He smiles, inviting you to come over and say “hello”, and you wait impatiently for the light to change. But, as the WALK sign counts down from 5, his bus arrives, and you wish you had just J-walked.

Or, you could be dancing the night away at your favourite bar. Your dream girl approaches and tells you that she’s had her eye on you all night. She scribbles her number down on the palm of your hand, and you tell her you’ll call her in the morning. Its 10am and you decide you’re going to make the big call but as you open your palm to retrieve the number, all you find is a sweaty mess of ink that smudged while you were sleeping.

Chances are slim that you’d ever run into these people ever again, and it can feel like you’ve missed out on an excellent opportunity to meet someone new. But, thanks to “Missed Connections” on Craigslist, your odds are increased. Right now, the popular Craigslist board is only a niche community in the online dating world, but traffic has been increasing as the word spreads. Simply check out your local Craigslist website and click on Missed Connections. Write to that hottie you saw on the bus, or see if someone’s been checking you out!

A new threat has presented itself to the world of online dating. “Sweetheart Scammers” are on the prowl, looking for potential victims on popular internet dating websites.

The FBI has coined the term to describe identity thefts who lure their victims through dating websites and chatrooms. Once they’ve found the right person, they court them with gifts bought with stolen credit cards. Finally, the theft will send his new squeeze a fake money order which will ultimately result in money being drained from rather than deposited into their account. Identity thefts also use personal information found on dating sites to track credit card numbers, social security and social insurance numbers and other important information.

To avoid falling victim to this crime, here are a few preventative measures you can take:
Do not use your real name or personal information when using internet dating websites. Create a separate e-mail account when communicating with contacts you’ve met online.

Do not use your regular or work e-mail address as your username on any dating site. There are even some websites that use “double-blind” e-mail method, that restricts each party access to the other’s real identity.

When you’ve decided to continue communication offline, ensure that you are able to block your caller ID and don’t give out your work or home number. Both of these can be used to track your home address and other types of crucial personal information.

It seems that everything on the web is created for the super tech savvy today. These days many programs, applications and software in general is geared to those that already have quite a background using the internet, computers and other technological programs. Well there has been an overwhelming response to those that aren’t as computer savvy as others to simplify and explain certain things.

Online dating websites are picking up on these vibes and certainly trying to make themselves more user friendly to those that may need a little more assistance than others. It’s not to say that creating an online dating profile is difficult. But if you are not familiar with features such as cut and paste or perhaps something like the refresh button then you may need a little tutorial.

There are different demographics of people that sign up to participate in online dating. Those of the slightly older demographic are the ones that tend to experience a little more difficulty using the software that is required to create a profile and communicate with other online dating candidates.

There are many sites that are now offering 24/7 assistance to help those that are looking to go online with their love life and make the process more seamless and very simple for those that don’t currently find it so.

So remember if you were hesitating going online due to computer inhibitions then not to fear as there will now be a better way for you to use the system and always a little help guiding you through the process.

There are many people that have a slightly skewed view on romance. Of course you want to fall in love and have the happily ever after that you so often see in a Hollywood romance film. Unfortunately that is sometimes not the case in all situations and it is important to set your expectations accordingly.

The problem is there are often young singles out there searching for true romance and while there is nothing wrong with that, the truth is there are many movies that lead you to believe that romance is actually something out of the norm and that for a true connection one must have roses, lavish hotel rooms and spur of the moment trips to Paris.

While many do have experience with relationships and do know that that once in lifetime is a very special feeling, others believe that this will happen to them with the next person that they meet.

Online dating has opened many doors to those seeking to meet the perfect match. If a motion picture romance is what you are looking for you can very well specify this in your profile and hope that either your princess or your prince are the next reader, but don’t hold your breath because that guy (or gal) next door just might make you way happier in the long run!

There will always be that one person that aims to take an industry by storm or perhaps make his fortune on something totally ridiculous. Well its not to say that something like this hasn’t been done before but this will definitely be the first for this type of situation.

A man is suing Match.com for falsely representing potential partners. The man claims that Match.com is falsely representing that they have those people that he would be able to create a life with but in reality they are actually profiles of members that are no longer active on the website.

The man claims that he has suffered immense emotional trauma because of hope that these people that he contacts will write him back but they simply do not use the Match.com program any longer so they are not contacting him back.

There is a slight flaw to all this madness. Firstly, shouldn’t there only be one person that takes the man’s heart? And secondly is this really a joke? The internet aside, no one files million dollar claims for a little rejection, in the real world if you have 5 million dollars for every time a relationship didn’t work out you would be filthy rich and so would everyone else that has ever had their heart broken.

As the online dating market gets more and more brands for people to choose from, there are also more and more twist to the type of online dating that the new services offer. The latest that we have come across is the VirtualDatingAssistants.com.

This websites was definitely designed with the busy rich guy in mind. The virtual dating assistant is almost exactly as what it sounds to be. It is an automated system that works for the business professional males that simply have no time to do the internet dating part of the relationship. This site will go through profile after profile of female candidates and promises to arrange 2 dates a minimum per month for the male member.

The online tool is preset with everything that the male requires and is very intelligent in figuring out matches that “guarantee” to meet the interests of the men behind the profile that have very little time but all the money to spend.

A membership to this “oh so helpful” site is a not so shabby $480 USD per month. The site guarantees 40 hours of time spent going through newly added female profiles not to miss a potential match.

Online dating has become very popular and many websites are coming up with new ideas and twists on online dating to satisfy the ever growing demand for a service that does it all and meets the expectations of many clients that are out prowling the web simply looking for the one thing everyone wants: true love

Deciding what to wear for your first date should be as important as deciding what you’re going to wear to an interview because, let’s face it, that’s really what a first date is (but with cocktails!). The motto ‘first impressions count’ really carries weight in the dating world!

But before you get your panties or boxers in a knot, realize that you don’t have to go out and spend a thousand dollars to make a good impression. It’s all about what you want to convey to your date.

Think about your personality and what you like to do. If you are sportier don’t be afraid to show it! If you’re classic casual let it show! Fashion can speak as much about your personality as you want but remember to always keep it tasteful. No one wants to go on a date with a guy wearing sweats and a baseball jersey but it is important to show the other person who you are.

Another thing to consider is where you are going on this date. Wouldn’t it be awkward to meet your date at the movies and she’s wearing a tiny dress and heels? Or heading to a classy restaurant only to see your date sitting there wearing shorts! Movies generally call for casual dress, say jeans and a casual shirt – this look works for both men and women. Dinner dates can mean slightly more dressed up clothing depending on where you go, say dress pants and a casual shirt for men or jeans and heels for women. And most importantly when dating either online or not remember to be yourself, be confident and have fun with your fashion!

The US online dating industry is welcoming a new supporting member with open arms. SweetheartChecks.com is website that specializes in doing criminal background checks for those that are looking to inquire about the status of their potential significant other. The website keeps and controls current and up to date files on all criminals and sex offenders in the US in order to provide peace of mind to those meeting people through online dating networks.

This will be a great addition to the online sector as many feel slightly uneasy when meeting a person over the internet and are uncertain of their true intentions and are sometimes rightfully skeptical to believe everything that they read on their screen- especially since many of the times people seem to sound too good to be true.

The online dating industry is continuing to grow at a constant rate and projections in the online community say that this is only the beginning of a developing industry.

While this new website cannot stop people from lying about their identity or keeping other secrets it can prevent some previous offenders from getting involved with innocent people if they do in fact disclose their real identities.

There are sure to be further advance from minds just like these to further increase the safety of online daters and those using the internet for other personal transactions and communication purposes.

There is something that many don’t consider when it comes to online dating; Online dating is not a guaranteed way to meet someone that is going to be your absolute soul mate- it is simply another convenient method to help aid in that goal.

Many create a profile on an online dating website and truly believe that this is a formula for meeting a soul mate. This is not always the case. Like getting set up by friends, there are several outcomes that may result. Yes, you may fall deeply in love with the first person that you meet and you may be very lucky together in the future but chances are that you will need to go through several experiences before this happens so you must remain optimistic throughout the process.

Everyone (or at least most) on the online dating site are there for the same reason as you, they would like to meet someone to start and continue a relationship with. But with many different personalities, the chances of the first being a complete match is highly unlikely.

If you keep a positive attitude and start fresh with everyone that you meet online or otherwise then you will be much more likely to have an unbiased approach and meet the person that you have been dreaming about all along!