Almost all of us have thought about it, most of us have done it, but how many of us have considered online dating and though ‘urgh, no!’? Probably quite a few, which is a shame, considering just how many couples find each other online and stay together for better for worse, for richer for poorer etc.

Luckily, it seems that over the past 10, even 5 years, the stigma attached to online dating has waned. Now that our beloved Web 2.0 is here we can do almost anything online (apart from avoid photos of cats) and there’s more optimism towards socializing via the Internet. But then we come up against the problem of it becoming all too accessible to the wrong people. On some websites there are girls pretending to be women, and men pretending to be boys, and this is exactly where the problem lies. Online dating is getting confused with chat rooms, where identities are truly anonymous, and anything can be said or done.

If you’re considering joining online dating then please take note - you need to find a reputable dating website. There are plenty around that have a vast majority of decent, honest people, and we’re pretty thankful for that when we think of the number of couples that would never have found each other had it not been for their good old computer. You should do some research into the Internet’s favourite dating sites, get recommendations from friends and read reviews. You don’t necessarily need to go for the ones that charge a monthly membership fee either, as there are some great dating networks that make money through surveys and PPC advertising instead.

Statistically, the numbers of people who meet via dating websites has never stopped increasing since the concept was first born. Chances are you’ll know a couple who met somewhere online, whether it was a forum for their mutually favourite band, or a website dedicated to matching people together.

What we’re trying to get across is that if you’ve thought about online dating, and you feel you’d like to try it then don’t let something like stigma hold you back. We won’t lie, you’ll still come across some losers and probably the odd weirdo online, but isn’t that what the block button is for? With today’s Skype and video calling technologies you can see people in real-time, right in front of you for proof that they’re not liars, so there’s no need to shy away. With that said, you should always shy away from Chatroulette…