The internet has influenced all facets of our lives. It has established communication channels between people across the world. It has made inroads into personal relationships as well. Now, online dating facilities are available to people of all ages, genders, and nationalities. One can use this facility for casual or long term relationships and even marriage.

Let us understand how a dating site functions

Step 1: An individual can create a profile on a site by submitting basic details about himself/herself. Although creating a profile might be free of charge on most websites, some may charge a nominal fee for this service. Some sites need the person to provide detailed information so that they can match the personalities of the individuals.

Step 2: The site sends details of individuals who suit his/ her preference.

Step 3: The individual can select a suitable date from the list of profiles sent.

Step 4: Sites even aid setting up meeting with the date.

After creating a dating profile the person is now ready to find his dream date.

Benefits of Online dating:

It is simple. It can be done using a computer or through a mobile app.

It offers a wide choice of dates.

It gives the individuals an opportunity to know each other before they actually meet.

It improves the chances of both the dates accepting each other as compared to traditional dating methods.

There are also dating blogs and sites available which offer tips on this type of dating.

One can meet individuals with same interests outside their social group or their geographical area.

Dating sites are available for the LGBT community also.

However, dating using the internet has certain limitations also.

Drawbacks of online dating:

It is time-consuming

Though sites match personalities, the information provided may be inaccurate. Personalities of people also change with time. So there could be compatibility problems.

Face to face communication is always a better way of establishing a relationship.

There are cases of people providing fake pictures and identities.

As we can see the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. So the ideal method could be a mix and match of traditional and online dating methods. This could be done by, shortlisting suitable dates from the choice of dates provided by the site. After that, one could move towards personal interaction. Overall, one can use the benefits of this facility to get a selection of dates, but eventually, a face-to-face meeting will help in actually establishing a relationship.