I haven’t tried it myself, but online dating sites are now an accepted way to meet potential dates. Here are two stories about how online tools have changed the dating scene.
Dating sites are full of smart, kind ‘hopeless romantics’
With online personals, folks don’t buy generic
— reported by the Houston Chronicle
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Katz is also CEO of E-Cyrano.com, which provides personal-ad makeovers (starting at $49). He sees so many sorry online ads, he can recite a typical one in a single breath: “I’m nice, smart, kind, warm, funny, honest, successful, ambitious and family-oriented. I like hiking, biking, movies, music, travel. I’m looking for my best friend and lover and partner in crime for a lifetime of love and laughter,” Katz said as if he were reading a radio-ad car-lease disclaimer. “There. It’s an online dating profile that anybody could use. And it’s worthless.”
Be unusual, said image consultant Kristen Kaleal, who helps make over local singles and their personal ads. “Let a little quirkiness come out, so that you’re not the same person they see 10 times,” she said.
But truth is, no matter how wonderfully enticing your description, most people won’t even get that far if your picture looks like it belongs on the post office wall.
“If you have either no photo or a crappy photo, your chances of landing a date online are pretty slim,” said Dave Coy, co-founder of LookBetterOnline.com, a site that connects online daters with a network of about 500 photographers who are experts at taking great personal-ad photos. “If you have a good recent photo of yourself, your odds go up enormously, regardless of how attractive you are.”
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Digging up dirt on your date — made easy
The Internet era means it’s simpler to find more about whom you’re seeing
— reported by the Houston Chronicle
ting used to be largely a matter of spending time with a love interest, discovering the good, the bad and the ugly in a person. If you were lucky, friends helped fill in some of the blanks.
These days, the Internet — and the ability to check people out before meeting up — has forever changed the rules.
For better or worse, “googling” your date has become standard practice.
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