The Traveler

Issue date: 3/2/09 Section: Lifestyles

Media Credit: Joelle Storet

One of the basic human necessities is to love and to be loved in return, and when men and women cannot find love on their own, they sometimes turn to online dating services.

Match.com, eHarmony.com, Americansingles.com and a list of more than 20 other dating services at Onlinedatingmagazine.com brought in an estimated $642 million in 2008, according to Jupiter Research, a business- and technology-based research and analysis Web site. With membership fees ranging from $20 to $60 a month, these Web sites are visited by 20 million people monthly, according to Onlinedatingmagazine.com.

When first visiting an online dating service, users browse through profiles without creating one for themselves, according to Howstuffworks.com. Depending on the site and personal preference, the users decides how much information to disclose. After looking at other people's pictures and profiles, visitors can then create their own.

Users begin by submitting basic information, such as age, sex and location. A valid e-mail address also gmust be given through which site administrators communicate with the users.

After becoming a paying member to a dating site, users can begin contacting other people through messaging.

If this isn't easy enough, the process may be much simpler at certain sites where once a profile is filled out, the dating services provide a list of matches - people the sites think are compatable based on interests, for example - for that specific profile.

"It seems legit if you're looking for somewhere to find love," said Megan Clark, a junior creative writing major. "They have guidelines, and there's a system for finding people."

In fact, there are 120,000 marriages a year as a result of online dating services, according to onlinedatingmagazine.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools