Handy hints for online dating

Meeting a partner online can be just as rewarding and fulfilling as finding that perfect man or woman through a more traditional dating method, an American psychologist has suggested.

James Houran, known as Dr Jim, is a staff writer for Online Dating Magazine and he believes that looking for a partner via a web-based dating agency can often be very successful. He does note, however, that some people in the over-50s age group are reluctant to do so as a result of social stigmas attached to the process, and a general unawareness of the internet.

Nonetheless, Dr Jim asserts that there are many positive aspects to online dating, including the ability to get to know a prospective partner before you meet them for the first time - thus quelling first-date nerve - and the chance to do so from the comfort of your own home.

Speaking to Spokesmanreview.com, he said: "With online dating, not only can you meet far more people than you ever could on your own, but more varieties of more people. Many people think that they have a particular type, but when they go exploring and talking to people and learning really what fish are in the sea, they discover something about their own needs and tastes and wants that they didn't know before."