A Net dating service, also known as online dating, is an example of a dating system and allows individuals, couples and groups to meet online and possibly develop a social, romantic or sexual relationship. Net dating services provide unmoderated matchmaking through the use of personal computers and the Internet.



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Such services generally allow people to provide, then search for other individuals using criteria such as age range, gender and location. Uploading photos of themselves and browse the photos of others is allowed for members. Sites may offer additional services, such as online chat, message boards and web casts. offered services require a monthly fee but sites sometimes allow people to register for free and trial for free.

Mostly there are broad based sites, with members from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.

Problems with Online Dating Services is that there can be a variety of problems with using online dating sites. Some sites expect members to sign up "blind", with no preview of the type of profiles they will get to see. On other sites, some profiles are not actually real people, but a bait put there by the site owners to attract new paying members. Other dating sites have received several complaints of this tactic. Some users spam sites with fake profiles that are in reality advertisements to other services, such as prostitution. A majority of dating sites keep profiles online for months or even years since the last time the person has logged in, thereby making it seem as though they have more available members than they actually do. Many sites offer the option to sort search results based on activity, however. Most sites still have significantly more male members than female.

Most members are enticed to join dating websites with free or low-priced "trial" memberships advertised on many other websites. These trial memberships lack many of the features of the full membership, including the ability to contact other members or reply to e-mail from other members. On sites which require credit card information to join at all, these trial memberships often automatically become full memberships at the end of the trial period and charge the full monthly fee, without any additional action from the member and regardless of whether the member has actually used the services or not. For paying members, it is often unclear whether a potential contact has a full subscription and whether he or she will be able to reply at all.

Even when members' profiles are "real", there is still an inherent lack of trust with other members. Many members misrepresent themselves by telling flattering 'white lies' about their height, weight and age, or using old or misleading photos. Members can, of course, ask for an up-to-date photograph before meeting others. Predators on line find online dating sites especially attractive, because such sites give them an unending supply of new targets of opportunity for fraud in the Internet.

Some sites cater to people with special interests (e.g. sports fans, nerds), professions, political preferences, ethnic groups, conditions (e.g. HIV+, obese), or religions.

Sites for matrimonial are a variant of online dating sites, and these are geared towards meeting people for the purpose of getting married. Gross misrepresentation is less likely on these sites than on 'casual dating' sites. Casual dating sites are often geared more towards short term (and implicitly sexual) relationships.