If you've been shopping around for an online dating service that will help you meet smart, attractive, engaging, and outgoing singles, welcome to the club. With literally millions of people turning to the Internet to find love (or just to have a good time), you're in good company. While it's impossible to stick a precise figure on the number of internet daters out there--this is, after all the World Wide Web--the most popular online romance sites estimate between five and 10 million users.

While it may seem natural for internet dating services to inflate their true numbers (who doesn't embellish from time to time?), the fact is, people are finding love, friendship, or just weekend-long trysts through online dating services. The best evidence for this is your own empirically gathered variety; have you ever posted a personal profile on an online dating site? If not, how many of your friends have done so? Remember, the number you arrive at is only the number that confess to trying out web dating. After all, there's still some stigma associated with the pastime.

Why the Stigma?

There are a few possible explanations for why online dating receives a bad rap in some circles. One common critique is that web-based encounters are "artificially" induced. But what does that mean? Is there something less legitimate about two singles who enter a forum designed for the express purpose of meeting one another? Isn't bar-hopping really just the same thing, only in a more historically proven form?

Another popular line of attack goes as follows: "I'm beautiful, intelligent, drive a flashy car, and make millions of dollars. Why on Earth would I need to go online to meet somebody?" If you detect just a whiff of superiority in this sentiment, you're some sleuth! Fact is, many singles envision themselves as such perfect specimens that they could never deign to venture online, which is where the dregs of society go once they've been banished from the "real world." But if that's the case, why are so many of these Adonises still single? Oh yeah--it's by choice, why else?

The Truth About Online Dating Services

Spend even a modicum of time on internet romance sites and you'll quickly see that these "truths" about online dating services are as authentic as the preening, flexing, self-absorbed characters who disparage them. The fact is, many business professionals are simply too busy to hang out at bars or clubs in the hope of meeting their soul mate. Not only can these venues be annoyingly loud and expensive, they're probably not ideal for scouting the types of folks you want to meet.

Online dating services are designed for those who like to party as well as stay home and read a book; for those who like ski getaways or tropical vacations; for smokers, non-smokers, drug-users, crime-fighters, Jews, Christians, Muslims, movie buffs, Rhodes scholars, and bleeding morons alike. You could even argue that an online dating service is the single most democratic forum around. Where else can you be as intimate or aloof as you please while maintaining total privacy?

Learn More About Online Dating Services

The facts and figures on internet personals, the essays, anecdotes, impressions, and philosophies of daters, and all the preferences lists out there could fill volumes and volumes. Trying to conquer internet dating is like counting grains of sand along the beach. But there are certain commonalities that unite all internet seekers, dating services, and correspondences. Many of these are just conventions of the form. Others are tips for ensuring your safety and privacy.

In the pages that follow, you'll get all the straight dope on the often complicated, rarely boring world of online dating. No two experiences will ever be exactly the same, but there are some rules to follow that will allow you to maximize your time spent online. Internet dating services may not sound as sexy as those love-at-first-sight encounters at the theater, restaurant, or shopping mall. But, if you're smart about it, your online experience can give you the results you demand.