Remember chemistry.
It's love at first sight - or at least instant attraction. It's a beautiful face across a smoky bar. It's an attraction fueled by a few cheap beers. It's a conversation in the dark corner of a house party. It's the instant love that drove Romeo and Juliet and inspired the daydreams of fairytale maidens.
Now forget it.
Internet dating is revamping the art of first impressions.
In the first half of 2003, Americans spent $214.3 million on personals and online dating sites. This figure is three times the total amount spent in 2001, according to a Nov. 23, 2003, New York Times article called Love in the time of no time.
Singlebobcats.com is an online dating site for Ohio University students, professors and alums owned by Texas-based White Buffalo Ventures. It has more than 3,000 registered users, making it the company's seven largest of 101 sites.
Another dating site popular with college-aged singles, www.friendster.com, links users through mutual friends; it has three million members, according to the Times article.
It's do-it-yourself dating
OU senior Michael Poley said.
Poley, who created a profile on singlebobcats.com and helped his father find dates via a Web site, said online dating cuts out the middleman. Instead of relying on friends to introduce people to potential dates, a single person creates a profile and markets himself.
Brad Armstrong, CEO of White Buffalo Ventures, said Internet dating creates an anonymous and safer way to meet potential mates. Internet dating is one of the few profitable online businesses because it creates a service for singles who are not confident to strike up conversation with an attractive stranger; it allows them to feel comfortable initializing contact.
White Buffalo Ventures operates dating sites for special-interest groups, from Hispanic singles to cyclists to Texas A&M alums. By basing their sites on common background or interest, singles know they have some experiences in common before becoming involved.
It's a much more reliable place to base a relationship than just on chemistry Armstrong said.
Armstrong, who founded White Buffalo Ventures in December 2002, was recently invited to his first wedding of a couple who met on his site. He said many others have written to cancel their services because they've met the man or women of their dreams.
Success stories are reducing the stigma around online dating, said Daniel Cech, an OU junior. More public awareness, triggered in part by TV commercials for dating sites that show happy couples who met online, makes the Internet seem a more natural place to meet someone.
The stigma is going quickly. It's now in the mainstream on 'Oprah' and in New York Times
Armstrong said.
Poley, who never made a date online because he met his current girlfriend before anyone responded to his singlebobcats.com profile, remains skeptical.
They are trying to make it less creepy by making it more accessible
Poley said. But it's still creepy.
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Emily Patterson
