While once viewed as the realm of geeks and losers, evolving public perception of online dating due to the ease at which folks dissatisfied with the traditional dating scene were able to find a partner or plaything fueled the growth of these sites for the past several years.
This growth came despite a media frenzy of warnings against the dangers of meeting unknown persons for often "dubious" reasons – meetings which occasionally resulted in the abuse or violent demise of one or more of the participants.
While countless couples have met online and gone on to develop serious, or merely sexual, relationships, the numbers seem to be in decline, in part due to the success of these sites. While this might seem at first blush to be a contradiction, consider that with a dating site, success can equal failure. For instance, when two participating members hook up to become "a couple," the website will likely be losing two of its members. Conversely, failure breeds success in this business, as unsuccessful match-ups may lead to renewed memberships.
Of course, for those looking for "less serious" relationships, including married folks looking for a flirtatious fling, dating sites will always hold a certain appeal. In this case, their evolution into more "sexually oriented" venues are almost guaranteed. Adult FriendFinder, a site devoted to swingers and others seeking sexual companions, is an example.
Contrast this with eHarmony, a site familiar to most television viewers due to their heavy advertising campaigns, targets an audience more interested in long-term commitments than in short term sexual adventures.
This evolution isn't simply a sexual one, however, as the future of dating sites seems to lie in increasingly smaller niche offerings, such as sites targeting Christian singles, pet lovers or the hearing impaired.
In an effort to cope with diminishing member bases and increasing competition, many dating sites are turning to community development and innovative marketing techniques. Still, "fun" seems to be the name of the game with most of these sites.
"A lot of people used the dating sites who never wanted to meet anyone," said Janet Lever, a sociologist at California State University at Los Angeles, who conducted a romance and cybersex survey last year. "Women especially had to learn how to distinguish between guys looking for flirty and dirty talk from the men who wanted to meet. And it turns out that an almost equal number of people met someone through erotic chat rooms."
