[Dominic]

I've used Match.com in the past and it as almost always been a good experience.

You write a profile and send notes to people who interest you, and vice versa. If there's a mutual attraction you meet for drinks or something and go from there.

I would never want to, or tell people they should, write back and forth many times or talk on the phone for months without meeting - that's just silly and bound to disappoint.

Online dating is simply a facilitator for meeting people. that's it.

I met a few women I actually dated this way. Heck, I met my ex-fiancee thru Match.com and we were together over four years.

You can't go into something like this thinking you're doing anything but meeting someone that first time. that's it. It's not even a date (or, it shouldn't be) How can you have a date with someone you don't even know?

I used online dating as just another way to meet women...not as an end-all be-all in trying to find my soul mate or something.