Men and women constantly complain about the lack of singles in the dating world. “There no good men,” or “some women aren’t the marrying type.” But you all may just be looking in the wrong places. Things have changed from when you’d pick up a guy from the bar or met your future wife at church service. In the last year *17% of couples who married met on a dating site.

While there are still all these stigmas about meeting online, things have become so much safer and effective. New York has even passed an Internet Dating Safety Act that requires that sites to provide awareness notifications. So you really don’t have to worry about the Craigslist killer too much but like everything else you have to take the good with the bad, the way I see it when the positives outweigh the negatives it’s worth the risk.

*Did you know that 1 in 5 singles are currently in a committed relationship with someone they’ve meet through an online dating service. And for those of you interested in long term relationships, married couples who’ve met online on average get married after dating for only 18.5 months compared to offline courtships that usually last 42 months before anyone pops the question. Online dating has gone from the last resort to finding love (back in the day) to the first choice for most modern daters. It has now become home for those who are just too busy to date otherwise. And now with about 1400 sites available in North America, there is a specific flavor for whatever you are looking for.

Top dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony also promote self awareness that makes it’s easier to find the right person for you. Studies have shown singles that use dating sites are more sociable and have high self- esteem. And to the hopeless romantics, they usually put more value in romantic relationships. There is another PLUS for this type of socializing, the good old networking factor.  Sometimes it’s not about meeting Mr. or Ms. Right for love and marriage, sometimes it can boil down to making a good connection for a good job.  That’s worth it in itself in my book.

If you don’t believe me on this, you can check out a brand new class (Online Dating Tips & Techs) coming to Buffalo Thursday May 5th.  You can learn all the tricks and trades about Online Dating and learn a few things to get the most out of this experience.  Check it out at www.24cmc.com for more info on the local (Buffalo) Online Dating Class!

*Source-Datingsitesreviews.com

** WBLK Intern Terri Polk contributed to this article.

More From 93.7 WBLK