Online dating growth
Online romances used to conjure up the image of sad types huddled over their keyboards creating buff alter egos with which to woo a potential mate. Now, in this age of social networking, online dating has lost some of its stigma, leading more than 22 million people to visit dating websites in 2007, according to the internet monitoring firm comScore.
A whole host of web companies are embracing the digital revolution to provide new, and frequently interactive, ways of meeting someone. Match.com, for example, has sought to capitalise on the popularity of Facebook by launching a "Little Black Book" application that Facebook users can load on to their profile to connect with potential matches, and also to share them with their friends.
More than 3.5 million people per month in the UK were using internet dating and personal websites in 2005 according to NetRatings. This was a figure that had almost doubled year on year.
The industry is predicted to grow from 2.8 million paid users in 2006 to 6.0 million by 2011.
According to the UK's office for national statistics, more than seven million people in Britain live alone now, compared with three million in 1971. Single parent families are also on the rise, especially those with lone mothers. Not only are more people living alone or without a partner, people are also getting married later, especially the men.
Add this to the fact over half of the UK's adult population now have access to broadband and you'll realise that not only is there a real need in this country for online dating services, the infrastructure exists to make it relatively easy for companies to fulfil that need.
So what better time to give it a go - what have you got to lose? Why don't you have a look at our dating site reviews and once you select the one you want to join be bold and go for it - it's the new way to meet that special someone in your life!
