(Disclosure, I may receive a small referral fee when you make a purchase through links on this post.)
What good is online dating? Obviously I am a bit biased as I run this site but the thought came across my mind. Why do online dating sites exist? What purpose does it serve? To even begin discussing this topic, we need to go back to where this starting, the dating services. Dating services helped people eliminates two basic element of dating, availability and interest. As the great poet Alanis Morisette would say, how often have you met the man of your dreams then meeting his beautiful wife? Or becoming interested in someone who was single and supposedly available only to find out they were not interested in a relationship at the moment. Dating services eliminates that ambiguity. People on dating sites are available and ready for a relationship.
The other value in dating services is you get to expand your pool or as they said the fish in the sea. Dating services allows you to reach people who you otherwise would have never met. This is great for people who has very little success in meeting people outside your immediately circle of friends. Joining popular online dating sites such as eharmony, match.com, chemistry.com will likely allow you to be matched with someone as they are the most popular online dating sites. Sites such as howaboutwe.com attracts lots of young people within your metro area. On the other side of the spectrum, online dating for people over 40, 50 or 60 will find their mates in sites at larger sites such as match.com, eharmony.com or niche sites such as maturesinglesclick.com.
Another value is to be able to search within your taste / niche. It may be difficult to openly tell people you prefer Asians, Catholics, and tall people over others in person or after meeting someone. Online dating allows you to do exactly that. Most if not all sites allow you to indicate what you are looking for. It also allows for people to search for you! Imagine if you were a single parents hoping to meet someone who is also a single parent. Online dating site filters will do exactly that which is a great tool. There are niche sites which specialize in a particular characteristic or status. How about ethnicity? You can find best dating sites for Filipinos, Hispanic, Latinos, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Middle Eastern, European and much much more!
We can’t help but to acknowledge the value that is added to online dating. It allows you to overcome often embarrassing issues you may be facing in meeting someone.
xoxo,
Ashley