online+dating

=**ONLINE DATING:**=

Online dating also known as //Net Dating// or //Internet Dating// is a recent and quickly growing dating system, which allows individuals, couples and groups to meet through the Internet, and possibly develop social, romantic or sexual relationships. This system has grown rapidly in popularity due the widespread worldwide growth of the Internet.

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**OVERVIEW:**
Online dating services offer an un-supervised matchmaking service through the use of the Internet and more recently cell phones.

Some examples of popular North American dating services being: • Match.com • Lavalife • Date.com • It’s Just Lunch • Lemon Tonic • Plenty Of Fish • Single in the City Dating • Dating REV • Ashley Madison Agency • SingleinTO.com

Online dating service sites often allow people to register and create a profile free of charge but are likely to offer services that require either a purchase of credits, or charge a monthly fee. Such services typically allow individuals to provide personal information in a “profile” kept in their own database, then search this database for other individuals using criteria such as age range, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and location to provide possible matches. Some services even offer more detailed queries specific to height, body type, and ethnic criteria. Most online dating service sites allow members to upload photos, and more recently video and audio of themselves, and browse the profiles of others. Providers may also offer extra services such as; online chat, blog spaces, [|webcasts], and [|message boards].

Many online dating sites are “broad-based”, with members from an array of backgrounds looking for diverse types of relationships. Other sites can be more specific and specialized in the category of members, geographic location, interests, or type of relationship desired.

**HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE DATING:**
There are various channels for online dating services ranging from online chat and instant messaging to online sites dedicated to matchmaking.

The use of personals for dating has a long history and has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, although in many social circles it lacked social acceptance. However, due to the recent rise in popularity and social acceptance of communicating with individuals via the Internet, this stigma has declined and given rise to the popularity of these alternative dating methods.

In the days before the Internet, the use of [|personals] enabled individuals to post advertisements in a designated classifieds section of a newspaper or a magazine when seeking a relationship. Such personals were solely text based, distributed in large quantities across an immediate area of the advertiser, freely available for public viewing and therefore not very private. Such postings would typically include a short description of the advertiser’s details and search credentials. This usually led to communication via mail or telephone with interested parties and eventually face-to-face interaction.

In the early days of the Internet in the 1980’s, individuals would communicate via [|newsgroups] such as soc.singles and alt.romance. Newsgroups are a collection of discussions on a certain subject. These discussions were posted to a central Internet site and redistributed through [|Usenet], a worldwide network of news discussion groups. As these newsgroups grew, so did the fragmentation between them. In turn, users would find themselves subscribing to multiple newsgroups and having to sift through numerous postings, which could become time consuming. Nevertheless, this technique had introduced users to a more immediate method of communication with like-minded individuals, in comparison to earlier dating systems. However, postings were still visible by a wide range of people with no search criteria.

With the introduction of IRC chat and instant messaging providers such as ICQ and later MSN Messenger, individuals could now dynamically communicate with others in realtime. Such instant messaging programs allowed people to encounter other individuals with similar interests according to their own profiles and the profile details entered by the other party. By mid 1990’s, ICQ introduced the possibility to randomly search for chat partners by location, age, gender, and interests. The growth in popularity of these instant-messaging services is largely attributed to these socially interactive possibilities.

AOL (America Online) has been credited as being the greatest contributor to the initiation of the online dating revolution with the introduction of AOL Dating. Shortly after, [|matchmaker.com] became one of the principal sites devoted solely to online dating, only to be rapidly surpassed by [|Match.com]. These providers begun to offer a private and streamlined service to its users, with photographs, and extensive search criteria to aid individuals in developing relationships with people not only locally but worldwide as well. With the demand and popularity of online dating on the rise many other websites such as; eHarmony, Lavalife, ePersonals, and others soon flooded the Internet in North America. These websites are believed to have collectively started the worldwide online dating boom, which continues to grow at an unprecedented rate today.

At present, online dating has grown to be over a billion-dollar industry worldwide. According to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and comScore Networks; U.S. residents alone, spent $469.5 million on online dating and personals in 2004. It is reported that in 2004, the amount of lifestyle and dating sites had grown by 38% in that year alone. (Hitwise Inc.) Today, online dating has grown to become the largest segment of “paid content” on the World Wide Web. The most popular online dating service site Match.com, reports that in its 10-year history, it has grown to host more then 15 million members profiles in 246 countries, with more then 60,000 new users registering everyday. Match.com is currently a publicly held company (IAC/InterActiveCorp), operates on six continents through more then 30 dating sites, in 18 local languages and accepts local currencies. In lieu of the industry’s rapid growth, many sites have begun to cater to smaller niches and geographic areas; however, the market continues to be dominated by several large services, including [|Match.com], [|Date.com], [|Lavalife], Yahoo! Personals, and [|My Space].

**THE FUTURE OF ONLINE DATING:**
With online dating services quickly entering the mainstream of society, there is a push within the industry to focus on professionalism and improving the public image of the industry. With the rapid growth of the Internet worldwide and public acceptance of it these services, it is anticipated that the number of users of online dating services will keep rising. It is also expected that with constant improvements in bandwidth and storage, that profiles of users will grow to be more intricate then before, focusing on an increased use and quality of multimedia (audio and video). The expansion in services is forecasted to include voice-over-IP, video messaging, and blogging. The general goal of the industry is to make online dating even more personal, easier, safer, more convenient, and more efficient.

It is also anticipated that dating services will spread extensively to the mobile phone network. Consequently the use of such services as: [|3G-based] video messaging, as well as Bluetooth, SMS and [|MMS-based services] will become more common as technological capabilities improve.

**SOCIAL IMPACT:**
It has been said that the system of meeting people has been altered greatly by today’s technology, the Internet thus far being the strongest force. Through the Internet’s widespread use to communicate with others, societal beliefs have also been shifted to accept this alternative means of relationship development. In fact, it has been recently reported that almost half of surveyed Americans believe that they have a higher chance of meeting someone online than in a singles bar. Many users believe that online dating services simplify the search for compatibility and when properly utilized, ensure a common ground between possible matches. Many people also declare to prefer the non face-to-face initial interaction, which may or may not lead to actual dating.

**EXTERNAL LINKS:**
[|www.lavalife.com] [|www.match.com] [|www.date.com] [|www.lemontonic.com] [|www.myspace.com] [|www.datingchemistry.ca]

[|Toronto.net - Personal Dating Providers] [|Online Dating Magazine]

**REFERENCES:**
Online Dating (2005) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_dating

Dating System (2005) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dating_system

Smith, G. (2005) Future of the online dating industry Online dating industry blog and consultant Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.gordonsmith.co.uk/2005/05/future-of-online-dating-industry.html

Online Chat (2005) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_chat

Online Dating Magazine (2005) Online Dating Magazine Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.onlinedatingmagazines.com

History of Internet dating (2004). Adults Dating Online. Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.adultsdatingonline.com/Internetdatinghistory.html

Personals & Dating (2005) Toronto.NET. Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.toronto.net/Personals_and_Dating.html

History of LavaLife (2004) Online Dating Magazine Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/history/lavalife.html

Online Dating Business (2005) Business Wire (Newswire) Retrieved on 26 February 2006, from http://www.soflexonline.com/articles/online_dating_business.html