Amazing!  I never thought I would disagree with Kamylienne, but obviously there's a first time for everything. 

I've had some years of experience with online dating and found it to be a very effective way of screening possible matches.  I found my previous long-term relationship that way.  Out of all the women I met through online dating, I only had one first encounter that I didn't mostly enjoy, and that was my fault for not doing a better job of screening.  Maybe I'm different from most, but I enjoy getting to know things about people, even if it turns out I'm not all that attracted to them.  Most people have interesting life stories.

 Reading someone's online profile is only the beginning, although I may have to look at scores of profiles to find an interesting possibility that I want to contact.  When both parties are interested in communicating, there's a lot of emailing that subsequently takes place, and most times that peters out from lack of interest. If interest continues, emailing is followed by at least one phone call.  Many times that reveals negatives that aren't apparent in emails. If there's interest in meeting in person, the first meeting always is in some public place, like a Starbucks or wine bar, where the woman can feel comfortable and safe. 

Many times one or both of the parties isn't interested in meeting a second time, though a considerable number of second or third dates take place.  Once in a while it results in meeting someone with whom one "clicks." 

That seems like a lot of effort for meager rewards, but it actually is pretty efficient and effective. After all, how often does one meet someone for whom a real attraction exists?  It beats the hell out of the bar scene, and presents many more possibilities than the other methods mentioned in this list.

I know there have been some occasional unfortunate occurrences, but we all know there are risks in almost any kind of dating someone new.  One has to be smart about this as in other dating situations, but if you follow the safe-dating-practices tips found on most online sites, you'll be just fine.

I just started to try this myself, just coming out of a 7 yr relationship, my ex taking most of my friends etc...u know the story, need to meet new people...There are some decent looking women to be found on these sites...getting them to respond and meet u is the challenge...I'm finding them more gaurded than in a bar...guess they feel that there putting themselves out there so need to play extra hard to get? Would value a woman's opinion on this if I can solicit one from the forum?

My experience with online dating was really not what I expected. I was treated like a sexual diviant by the people who contacted me. I joined a few sites hoping to meet someone for a geniune relationship, but all I got were people who assumed I was there to perform freaky sex acts with them AND for free. There are site where you can do that if you want, but I am not talking about thoses sites. These were regualr dating, looking for a boyfriend sites. SOme people seem to have luck with these, but I did not.

Tried this a couple times, and I have to say I hated it.

I've placed a pen pal ad (strangely, that's kind of how I met my husband. Long story, again, found out I would've met him, anyway), but I'd NEVER look for a date from online! There would be a lot of risks involved, you'd never know if the person is genuine or not. It may have worked in some cases, but I think the majority of the cases where people met other people from online are terrible, even possibly dangerous.