There was an article not too long ago in The Michigan Daily by a man who had tried online dating one night and didn't see any results. I repeat, he tried it for one night. Yes, there's a certain appeal to the instant gratification side of online dating but the reality of the matter is that if you want it to work for you, you have to invest some time into it. You aren't going to be able to put a profile up a find your soul mate a few hours later. Unless you believe in the kind of kismet that would have two never-online people be on the same site at the same time, you probably don't even want to date someone who is online at the same second that you post your profile.

The article brings up some valid points about online dating (although it disses on Craig's list which you know I think is a perfectly acceptable site for finding a date). There are going to be fake profiles, lying people and bad matches online. But that's precisely why you need to spend some time sifting through the sludge to find the gems that are available online. Dating online really is like dating in the real world in many ways. That's a good thing; it's what allows online connections to spark in real life. But one of those ways is that you can't just meet a person instantaneously and have that be "the one'.