I'm on the fence, sort of.

Thing is, I'm in an online relationship, however I still think online relationships are mostly silly. I firmly believe that when you are in love with someone, it should be very personal, very physical, they should be present. But sometimes you can spend alot of time with somebody on the internet, that it almost feels like it's at that level.

Me and my boyfriend are planning to live together in some time, so it is a pretty serious relationship and not a silly online fling at all. But I know all my friends have turned to the internet on the rebound, and they just pick up guys like toys and put them down when they're bored.

just based off some of the commercials I've seen for dating sites I don't think they're realistic. They bases their matches souly off some kind of percentages that in my opinion don't mean much in the real world.

I do admit to trying one once. It was a bit of a blind date and I didn't feel comfortable going alone so I got one of my girl friends to go with me. Through out the date he spent more time talking to my friend and freaking me out because of his "driving skills".

Me personally I invest more time in getting to know people on sites like this and did actually meet a boyfriend on one.

I do know of people who have meeting on dating sites and have gotten married and people who have meet on avy sites and gotten married. But I think just like if you were to meet someone in person instead of online it can be a hit or a miss.

Well, I don't find it to be silly or stupid at all.
I know that some people have found there true love on the internet..
I tried it once, and it didn't work out so well for me.

Originally Posted by reddeath26

Although that applies with nearly any situation in which you happen to meet the person. I mean to take an example, my ex gf met me at our old hostels pool table. As I can be very serious about pool, especially as I was practising for a local bar's pool comp, her initial impression of me was that I am a very serious person. Which to my great credit is what caused her to become curious & interested about me. It is just lucky that when she realized I am actually the world's dorkiest person, this did not kill her interest in me. :O

Ah. Very true. Very true. :)

I, personally, have a few different opinions on them.

Sometimes, you simply would not meet the right person face to face, and meeting them online is simply the only way you would have ever come across said person. So in this way, this gives you a higher chance for meeting someone you'll really fall in love with. Also, they're often very safe if you do it properly, so you're not risking anything but maybe a couple of minutes and a date. Regardless of weather or not this date went well, you didn't really lose much.

On the other hand, it is simply plain-out UNromantic. There are so many stories Ive heard of how people met "the one" and I gotta say, if your story is "Oh, we met on an online dating website," then, well, theres nothing wrong with that, but its so much less exciting! Plus, I believe that to have a very good, strong base to a relationship, you cant just jump right into dating a person, you have to really get to know them first. With an online dating site, you simply cannot become a close friend of the person first, because that entirely defeats the point of the website. Its not like this is really a problem, but really... I just dont see the appeal. I wouldn't ever, because I'm a hopefull romantic, and online dating sites don't suit the way I'd like a relationship to start.

Thats just my opinion, though.

I think with any relationship including friendships, you should be careful not to give away too many personal details of yours before you feel you know the person well enough. When it comes to online relationships people should be even more careful but I do think its a fine way to meet people provided you do take precautions for online safety.

Personally I've never dated, in person or online, so I can't speak from experience, but I wouldn't start dating someone unless I had met them in person and gotten to know them first hand, rather than through the internet.

In my opinion, you can't control who you fall for.

“Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary” -Mark Twain

This is why my personal ban on falling for someone via the internet, has failed me twice now. Once with my ex fiance, and now again, with my current lovely girlfriend. :)

I always recognize when it's happening, and try not to feel how I feel, but it never works, and here we are.

Thing is, I know plenty of people who have met via internet, and gone on to be very happy for a long time. I can't say it works for everyone, but obviously for some people it works.