But how common is it to meet your mate through online dating sites? Well, the statistics are in and for those who enjoy the excitement of singles chat rooms and online dating, the news is good. Great, in fact. Half – you read right, half – of all America’s 40 million singles use online dating to meet people and at least one in five of those find long-term romance that way. When you think about it, those are pretty good odds. And as the world of online dating expands, it becomes more and more common to meet your partner in cyberspace, we can expect that figure to grow. As the doom and gloom of the economy sadly sends many businesses into closure, online dating businesses are flourishing. Love never goes out of style. There’s a wealth of reasons why looking for love online beats singles bars. For a start, people hooking into the romantic cyber-world are generally open to a relationship, and not looking for some quick thrills. They’re usually serious about their quest for love. And then there’s the way chatting on the web can fast-track a relationship. It can strip away the superficialities of appearance and reveal the real person. Don’t just take our word for it, a survey by Britain’s The Sunday Times proved the point, saying “that email relationships can be far more intimate than normal dating.” By the time you make it to that crucial first date, you already have a sense of who this person is. What interests them. What they want out of life. And because we’ve already looked at our potential mate’s profile online, then the chances are we’re interested in exactly the same things. And, more importantly, want the same things. In short, in the world of cyber-dating, we’re being attracted to someone for the right reasons. Sure, a cute photo helps, but it’s the important stuff – the stuff that keeps couples together – that we find out about before we even meet. And when the first date happens, it’s more likely to go smoothly. We’ve already been chatting to our potential Mr or Ms Right, so the first date is often the real world extension of a relationship that’s already formed and growing into a romance. Online dating has been one of the biggest success stories of the world wide web. And the reason why is pretty simple: it works. People do find love online – in ever increasing numbers.