by Marissa Higgins

Created on: March 18, 2008

A typical on-line dating site contains all the elements necessary for someone looking for love. Personal photos, likes and dislikes, location and compatibility are all offered. Yet by signing up for an on-line dating website, a person may feel sort of lame, or even slightly pathetic. They might be too embarrassed to post their photo on the site, or give too much personal information due to a fear of other people recognizing who they are. That is partially why Facebook has quickly become a great tool for on-line dating.

Facebook is a networking device that allows classmates to add each other as friends and check out other profiles of the people that are in their network. Networks are by location or college, making it simple to know exactly who is in your area, and then move on to seeing what they like. Typically people who add others as friends on Facebook have already had some kind of encounter in real life, and therefore the idea of finding a date on Facebook has some kind of significant reality to it.

Exchanging a few glances with a class cutie that is too shy to make a move right away can easily be resolved by an add on Facebook. Meeting someone at a party that you found interesting that night can be followed up by adding the person as a friend when you log into Facebook the following morning. The adding on Facebook on the surface can mean nothing more than adding another number to your friend list, but below the surface can eventually turn into a date.

Facebook allows you to look at a person without adding them as a friend as well. So say you met someone at a party or during a class but weren't sure if you had anything in common that you can possibly talk about the next time you see them. Looking at their interests on Facebook can answer that for you in a matter of seconds, leaving you with the decision of if you are compatible or not. Not to mention you can easily see if they are single or in a relationship, gay, straight or bisexual so you know where you stand on having a chance.

If you're really feeling flirtatious when you add that hottie that you met the other night, you can take the bold path and poke them. Poking is a tool on Facebook that does nothing more than inform the person they have received a poke when they log in. It tells them who they are poked by and leaves them with the option of poking back.

So if you are feeling flirty and want to make the move on someone, subscribe to Facebook and go from there. You can message someone you find attractive with something as simple as a "hello" or a "hey what's up?" and see what happens from there. If they never message back or if a relationship doesn't develop between the two of you, then you still have one more friend on your Facebook list. And who knows who is going to look at your profile and message you too.

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