Meeting Your Match Online: The Complete Guide to Internet Dating and Dating Services - Including True Life Date Stories

By: Tamsen Butler
Paperback, 288 pages
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Recent studies show that more than 20 million people will visit at least one online dating service a month in 2008. Internet dating has several advantages, among them the ability to discover everything about a potential partner before ever meeting them. You can learn their age, religious affiliations, education, expectations, interests, hobbies, and so on. Internet dating allows you to chat online and get to know someone before meeting them. There is also the ability to meet people on a varied schedule; you do not have to meet them face-to-face right away. Other advantages include protection of your personal identity, the exchange of photos, the ability to be yourself, less cost, and the ability to search by sexual or ethnic preference, all of which will increase the chances of finding that special someone. Aside from the many advantages, online dating has disadvantages as well. For example, you could be starting an online relationship with someone who, in actuality, does not look like they do in their photos or their personality is not as they described, it might have to be a long distance relationship, or they have a hidden criminal agenda. This is why you need the assistance of this groundbreaking new book that covers it all, allowing you to find the right partner and make your online dates safe and secure. The book features many available online dating services, such as PerfectMatch, which employs a scientific method to locate matches. eHarmony has a compatibility system that only pairs you with compatible singles. Yahoo Personals helps you choose from thousands of members to find singles in your area. True.com is likely the only dating site that checks new members for criminal activity and marriage history. Match.com guarantees you will meet someone special within six months or they will extend your membership by six months at no cost to you. Also detailed are AmericanSingles.com, FriendFinder.com, Metrodate.com, Lavalife.com, Date.com, JDate.com, Great Expectations at GE-Dating.com and Chemistry.com. Also included are true stories from couples and singles who have been through the online dating process and have found it either worked or didn t work for them. Other social networking sites, such as MySpace.com, are also touched upon.

 

Great guide to get started with online dating

- 8 Feb, 2010
Internet dating can be scary, especially if you don't know anything about it. This book guides readers through the basics, and is full of true stories from couples who have successfully navigated the online dating world. The author gives great technical advice about the type of computer equipment you will need and the importance of having current virus protection programs. Tamsen also includes detailed information about the most popular dating sites, including social networking sites, and how to choose the best site for your needs. You are given the tools you need to weigh the pros and cons of each site and make an informed choice about which one to use. The author even uses personal experiences as learning examples with many of the sites.
Once you find someone to correspond with, the author gives wonderful advice about the importance of honesty and how to answer questions, including how to respond to personal questions. The author even includes a list of popularly used instant messaging acronyms you may see and explains what they mean. Tamsen wisely advises readers not to rush to meet someone, but to take the time to correspond with someone for a period of time first until you feel comfortable meeting in person. When you're ready to meet, Tamsen gives great ideas about ideal places for your meeting. This is a really thorough guide to internet dating that explains everything you need to know to find the perfect mate.



 

Makes the online dating world a little less daunting...

- 5 Feb, 2010
A great book to check out before registering for any of those dating
sites! Butler's voice is natural and without being overly optimistic.
Sometimes things just don't work out, but she encourages you to
continue your search through other avenues.
Also includes some real humorous (and heartbreaking) stories from
people who've gone through the gauntlet. Most important, she gives you
a good idea for which site is right for you (because believe it or
not, they each are strikingly different - even on the basis of
"compatibility" and its part in your search). I'm still a bit
skeptical about dating online, but at least I feel I have some more
knowledge before taking the plunge. Definitely one I'll recommend to
friends

 

Perhaps Helpful for the Online Novitiate

- 19 Jan, 2010
In what may be the single, longest title in the history of books, Tamsen Butler sets forth on a journey of the online dating world and how to not only manage it, but effectively conquer it, and presents it in a language that will be accessible for even the most uncertain of readers.

Being happily involved with my own match, I read this initially to assist a friend who, having tired of trying to meet people locally (and being of a certain age), decided to cast her lot with online dating. This evoked a lot of red flags in me, and thus began my quest. There are a lot of dating sites out there, and even more unsavory characters. I did not want a 3 AM tragedy call.

Butler is simultaneously cautionary as well as savvy and lays forth enough good, common sense information, if a bit obvious in its delivery. She includes some of the better known sites, throws a few lesser known ones in for good measure, and reviews each site providing straightforward information on the qualification process including tips on taking the questionnaires. As well, she notes things that you might and might not like about each.

Additional information presented includes case studies of individuals who have met through online services which seem sincere enough, even if predictably outcome aligned. Overall, I felt this book was an acceptable guide, particularly for those who have absolutely no online experience, and primarily use their computers to check email.