In some ways, on-line dating is quite different from traditional dating, but in many ways it is just the same. When you are looking for a partner on-line, you have many dating sites to choose from and can join one or several, each with a slightly different way of doing things and a different batch of potential partners. You begin by looking at photos and self-descriptions of your candidates, and can do searches based on whatever criteria you like. This offers some big advantages over meeting people in the "real world". It allows you to filter out people who have characteristics you wish to avoid, such as smoking or drinking or being overweight. You can limit your results to people who make a certain amount of money or have a certain level of education. And, you can be pretty sure that anyone who is on there is available (i.e., unattached). When you meet people in person, you have to look at their ring finger to know if they are married, and even then you don't know if they are straight or gay, if they want a long-term relationship or just sex, if they make $12,000 or $120,000, etc. On-line profiles also tell you what someone's interests, religion, politics, and eating habits are, which can be important factors in determining your compatibility. Those things take several dates to find out about someone in person.

Another advantage of online dating is that it exposes you to a much larger pool of people than you could ever meet in your day-to-day life. You can look for a partner across the country or even in another country, if you want. It "introduces you" to hundreds or even thousands of potential mates in the geographical area of your choice!

There are disadvantages to on-line dating also. Instead of meeting someone in person first, and knowing that you have some attraction to them before you have a date, you have to meet them without knowing if you will have any kind of "chemistry" with them in person. Sometimes you will have spent weeks emailing back and forth, getting to know each other better, deciding you are compatible, and then finally meet or talk on the phone, and find out that their voice or personality or physical presence turns you off! However, in "real world" dating, the opposite can happen...you can be physically attracted to someone, have one date or many, and then find out that you really aren't compatible because of different interests or religious beliefs or lifestyles.

The bottom line is, both ways of dating have advantages and disadvantages, and it's good to be aware of the possible pitfalls and how to maximize your potential for success in either venture. If you proceed with caution and sincerity, and listen to your gut feelings about someone at every step of the way, you should be successful eventually in finding a partner. On-line dating, just like real-world dating, requires patience, perseverance, honesty, optimism, resilience, and a dose of good luck!

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