Many people have a hard time finding love in real life. Whether it is because their lives are too hectic, or they don't meet enough people, or the people they do meet don't have the same kind of relationship views. There are many reasons why some people would turn to the internet as a new source to meet others.

Most of you have probably seen the countless eharmony commercials on TV. Yes, there are many various dating sites that will help you find someone. Most of them start off with a questionnaire. Believe me when I say they're not something you do quickly. Thorough questionnaires will have a lot of questions, and if you want the best results you will want to answer all of them. This can take you up to 30 minutes.The dating sites will then apply the info from the questionnaire to formulas they have in order to find compatibility. You can then contact your matches and, if they find you interesting as well, you may want to have external online contact (email, instant messenging, etc..).

The perks of online dating sites

You get to read a list of attributes about a person. You can find out just about everything you need to know before even making contact. This will give you piece of mind and will give you a sense of whether or not the match is well-made or not.

The Downfalls of online dating sites

The biggest downfall of online dating sites is that you have to fill out a questionnaire about yourself. While that may sound like no big deal, think about it: How many people think they are one way but their friends would say they are otherwise? Questionnaires rely on the idea that you know yourself best, but often a people's perceptions of themselves can be different from the truth.

Also, questionnaires will often ask you what you are looking for in a relationship. However if you haven't had much luck in finding true love yet, part of the reason might be that you do not truly know what you want. Therefore the questionnaire could end up matching you with someone who sounds like a match, but deep down isn't. Even for age! Most people I've met don't specifically want someone too far away from their age, but we all know that sometimes true love comes from those you don't expect. Since putting an age limit on questionnaires will end up ruling out those outside of it, it's quite possible that your soulmate could end up ruled out simply because of age (or political views, or any other kind of limiting factor)

I met my current boyfriend in an online text-based game. The game features a chatroom so that its users can interact with each other. It is from our conversations in the chatroom, and later on from IM, that we got to know each other well enough to like one another. Since we got to know each other via text, we didn't have shallow ideals covering up our eyes: it was all about personality.

The best part about using an interest-based chatroom is that you do not originally chat with a dating goal in mind. When my boyfriend and I originally chatted, it was about the game; it was about other players; it was about things that happened in the day that bugged us; it was to discuss politics. However nowhere in the beginning did we set out to date. Actually at first I thought he was a she because his username reminded me of a (girl) friend of mine.

This isn't a method very recommended, at least not by me. Since all of the people in the chatroom will be out to get a date, the possibility of people lying to stand out from the crowd is high. So you may not get to know the real person behind the username. However for people with atypical sexual orientations (homosexual, bisexual, swingers, etc..), you will have a higher change of finding someone in a chatroom made specifically for people of that sexuality than on an interest-based chat.

Hold you horses. Now it's time for more online chatting. There are a few things you may need to ask before even thinking about meeting someone.

1. How long have I been talking to him/her? Give yourself some time before rushing in - at least a month.

2. Is he/she married? It's amazing how many people cheat on their spouse. Do you want to date a person who's already taken?

3. Age. While age should not be a defining factor, especially not while you're only in the chatting stage, if you're really against a certain age gap you have to know.

4. How close do you live? Long distance relationships rarely prosper. If you can't see each other at least once a month, it may be better to look elsewhere.

5. Sexuality. You and your prospective partner may have different goals. Are you both looking for a deep relationship? A casual one? A sex buddy? Are you going to be exclusive? Do you have conflicting sexualities? (Such as a straight person with a bisexual person. Hey, a pairing like that can affect a lot of relationships). How quickly does he/she usually get physical in relationships?

Yes however don't rush in too quickly. There are many dangers of meeting online people, because for all you know that could be a psycho. However that shouldn't stop you from meeting the person : It just means you have to think of a few security measures.

1. Find a meeting place with loads of people. In my case it was an intersection in between two pizza places; it's the busiest intersection around.
2. Where are you going for your date and is it within walking distance of you meeting point? If your meeting point is your date place, just skip to number 4. Anyways, we always tell kids not to get in car with strangers. This goes same for adults meeting online people. .If you get in a car, you are no longer at safety. Ideally you shouldn't have to walk too far from your meeting point to the actual date.

3. Will the actual dating place have various other people? Popular restaurants, fast food joints, and even movie theaters during peak hours are all fine places to go on the actual date. For me it was my best friend's graduation. Hey if I'm gonna be bored listen to speeches I might as well have someone keep me company..and the fact that it was relatively crowded meant plenty of witnesses in case he had turned out a crazy goon.
4. Have fun, but remember to think about safety.

If you want to have a friend accompany you on the first date, there is nothing wrong with that. There's safety in numbers