Have you experienced it? Do net dating sites work for you? Have you had terrible experiences of it or really good ones? Is it any better or worse than dating somebody you meet at work or when you are out? net dating horror stories?

Oh and there is a poll to vote on

My personal experience is dating sites are not that good for meeting people, but I have met people from social networking sites and my previous girlfriend I met after becoming friends on myspace simply because we liked a lot of the same bands and got to know each other before meeting.

The last girl I dated whom I met in real life first was a girl I met at work and she turned out to be totally wrong for me in just about every way except the physical side.

Also the net can bring some f*cked up people in to your life at times. I was seeing a woman from Liverpool once who said she was single. Then one day her boyfriend called me to ask what I had been doing at their flat...

Takes all sorts I guess

I've never met anyone off t'internet. I don't whether i would either. It's all great chatting away to people, but people usually are disappointing and I'd be annoyed I'd wasted all this time and effort for someone who isn't as interesting as they initially seemed! Plus there's the extra worry of them being an axe murderer or psychopath....

But then it does depend on the person. Perhaps over time i could be persuaded if i liked them enough and felt i'd enjoy the experience.

I think if you are serious about wanting dates and a relationship then the internet is a great way of gaining confidence. For shy people it gives the opportunity to chat and get to know people without the awkwardness of being in the same room. Of course it is open to abuse but, as Sue pointed out, people lie in real life too.
Asking people in the chatroom, there are people after nice love, romantic dates, rich 'sugar daddies', casual relationships, just messing about chatting, and quite a few foreigners practising their English. And that's the beauty of the site, that people take it and use it in such a variety of ways.
So whether or not you actually get a relationship from online dating, at the very least it should be a positive experience and an opportunity to socialise with people from all over the world.

In the whole i would say net dating is better then real life. Having met a few, and dated a couple, i have only had one bad experience, and got away pretty sharpish Saying that you have to be a pretty good judge of character, not a soft touch thats for sure, there are alot of vey niave people on the net who believe every word a stranger tells them. Had countless guys i have started chatting to, that were after everything other than meeting up, they did not stay on my msn for very long. Obviously if everyone was genuinely looking for a relationship on the net it would loads better but as we all know they are not

My rules are, once communication has begun, ensure you speak to them on the phone, both landline and mobile, quite quickly after you have started contact, landline being the most important, why waste time, and ensure you know you can speak at anytime, just not when the girlfriend/wife is not around Make sure you get to see them face to face i.e on Cam beforehand and most of all, go with your instincts, if they feel like a baddun they probably are ........

Having said all thati have not met anyone off the net for ages now, only through choice. I have met some great people, a couple of special ones as you all know

I now think, its a good thing, however, time to get to know them and stay safe etc first.
I have made some good connections, some good friends i hope and one possibly more, so am feeling pretty positive today,

Better by far, you can learn so much more about someone online in a few hours than you could in weeks out in the real world,since joining here the only dates i've had are from this site, not always worked out in the past but now i'm in a relationship with a great guy, i'm very very happy & I would recommend online dating to anyone...

shit !!!!

Nope, doesnt work for me. Cant say I've gained anything out of it at all.

Still waiting n Waiting for some one but its not working for me too but i will keep tryin

I see i f*cked up the poll question with a stray "is"

Interesting results and comment so far. If net dating is becoming so popular why is there still a bit of a stigma attached to it for some people? I know of people who have lied to friends and family about how they met their partner because they didn't want to tell people they met online

Yeah i see what you mean about the axe murderers being out there in real life, but i think I'm a good judge of character when it comes to meeting people. If i met someone off the 'net I'd feel like I'm missing a big step..... Or I'd be overcoming my dislikes.... Either way, i like meeting people before hand as there's a level of 'being' that you cant pick off someone from the internet. Yes, people may lie, but i think it'd be a lot harder to lie if you were meeting the person in the flesh.

I know

and perhaps i would do so in the future. But i don't think I'd do it now at this time in my life. Also, a lot of people i meet on the internet push to meet you so soon, which i dislike. I've had cyber friends for years who i have never met, and we've never mentioned it.

So yes, i am being opened minded to a point, and if someone i really liked came along then yeah, but i don't see that happening anytime soon...