I KNOW that a sample size of 10 is not a convincing number to take advise from. However I must say that it’s good enough for me to convince you that Internet Dating is the way to go today.

Ten couples whom I am closely related to, have met through the Internet and all of them have been going out for 6 to 38 months. Coincidence? I may have the reasons why it works.

Whether or not we have a life, we have things to do. Projects, deadlines, fighting with the boss, fighting with the sleep monster, or with the PMS bug. There's always something that tips us off the ‘feel-good' scale a little bit. Nobody likes to meet someone new, only to hear them gripe about their life. Internet Dating provides the freedom in manipulating your dating time. Feel free to scroll through the list of people on the web as and when you feel ready to meet someone new.

Nobody likes purchasing something and getting disappointed because it's not what you're looking for. That's how dating blues feels like. You feel like you're meeting the wrong people, and you're wasting too much time! Almost all of the internet dating sites require their users to fill in a little bit of themselves and also allow their friends to leave testimonials about what they feel about your potential dates! (i.e friendster, myspace) Unless your potential date bribed all of their friends to write such wonderful testimonials for them, it's a good indicator of what he or she is like.

So you've scoured through and found a few good lookers you fancy. Their profiles look enduring enough for you to want to know more. Send a message or send a wink/smile (virtually) to start the ball rolling. How painful and embarrassing can an unreturned email get?

If you receive an offensive or disrespectful email from someone who wants to know you, you can simply ignore it and move on. It's not as easy when it comes to real life because it's harder to say “I'm sorry I'm not going to give you my number” to a guy who has plucked up his courage to walk over and ask. Online, you are in power. You choose to reveal what you wish to reveal and who you want to correspond with.

Knowing a stranger online means you know the person from the start. Unless your potential date (or even yourself) brings forward emotional baggage from the past, you're likely to start on a good foot - that is, a fresh new beginning. A positive beginning usually stems into a longer union.  

Once you've found your perfect match, it doesn't end there. There's a whole new set of problems like, what happens when our friends ask “How did you guys meet?” and, what do we say to our traditional parents who worry about internet psychopaths? These concerns shouldn't be ignored because they are there for a reason.

Although there are benefits to Internet dating, there are also unfortunate cases when people fall prey to seductive crooks who manipulate the system to their advantage.