A couple of years ago I remember the looks of pity my friend Jennifer would get when she mentioned she’d been trying an online dating site. I must admit, at the time, I too thought she must be desperate. Couldn’t she meet anyone in ‘real’ life? Didn’t she meet people at work, or at parties?

I judged her actions and concluded that she must be either socially inept, or a bit weird. Of course, you know I wouldn’t be writing about this if she had never met anyone…sure enough, she met a guy online, they fell in love, and now they’re married.

Even one experience such as this in your own circle of friends can make you reconsider your hasty judgments. So, could online dating really be the answer? Or, is best to just stick with the traditional method of meeting people, even though it hasn’t worked out for you yet?

Well, let’s say you’re occupied with work all day (nobody eligible there), you go out twice a week with your usual group of friends, and the rest of the time you’re washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning your home (or more likely a combination of Facebook, TV and surfing the net); realistically, how many new ‘dateable’ people are you likely to meet?

Even if you met one new person a week, how many of those are likely to be a good match? Maybe one in a hundred, and that’s if you’re lucky. At that rate, it would take a couple of years to even meet someone that you feel really attracted to. Not bad, but, in the meantime, you’ve spent two years alone!

So, what if you want to speed up the process? You do the logical thing and search a database of millions of people on a dating site. You use the Internet to keep in touch with your friends, and for buying things, so why not for dating also?

Is email less ‘real’ than talking? Be honest, do you message people on Facebook that you haven’t seen since your school days? Be even more honest, which mode of communication would you prefer when meeting someone for the first time? This was the main factor that converted me.

Talking to someone new that you like the look is far from being easy! Actually, initiating communication is way easier online. No more stuttered introductions or lame chat-up lines. You get to think through what you say and ensure that you present yourself in the right way.

To summarize, not so long ago online dating seemed to me like a last resort for lonely people. Now, I’m convinced that it’s absolutely the best place to start. Let’s say you communicate with ten new people a week as a result of using an online dating site, even if only one of those turns out to be eligible, you’ve increased your chances of meeting someone by over 1000! You can’t argue with that!
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You can find online dating reviews at www.bestonlinedating.co.uk, where the best dating sites UK are briefly reviewed and rated on a single page.