SEATTLE
TIMES -- June 4 -- Al Farrar, at age 74, was a bored and lonely widower
when his daughter urged him to go online and look for a lady
friend. That's how Farrar, a retired postal-service supervisor,
apprehensively came to sign up for "Cupid Junction," a computer dating
service. "Two years ago, the percentage of age 50-plus online daters
was very, very small. Now on a daily basis that percentage is growing
by leaps and bounds," says Duane Dahl, president of
PerfectMatch.com. AARP counsels beware when dating online but
touts the strategy as a good way for older people to meet. In
April, more than 1.6 million age 65-plus visited online personals
sites, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. "The most important
thing to do is make sure the site you choose has a large enough
database of people you're interested in and who are interested in you,"
advises Ron Geraci, a special-projects editor for AARP. FULL ARTICLE @ SEATTLE TIMES

Mark Brooks: Older singles discovery of online personals has been one of the big stories of the year.