Thoughts On Online Dating

Maybe I've been suckered into the e-Harmony commercials they've been playing these days but recently I've been thinking about the value of online dating. Obviously this doesn't apply to me and I'm definitely and outsider looking in. However, it really wasn't that long ago that I was in the single scene so hopefully my thoughts are still somewhat applicable.
In the past I use to think online dating was almost like an easy way out that was reserved only for the desperate. This opinion was largely influenced by my socialization; have you every heard of a Disney princess movie where the perfect couple meets online? I guess there is Meg Ryan and Tom Hank's classic "You've Got Mail" but even that flick doesn't do anything to promote online dating because their relationship takes place via email rather than through an organized website. I feel like we're socialized to think that there's only one way to meet that special someone and it's through encountering them through the natural collision of our friend circles or by random happenstance. The more I think about this, the more ridiculous I think it is! Sure, that may have been the way things have worked for centuries (...well, we won't even go into the arena of arranged marriage or the like) but times have changed significantly, which necessarily changes the "dating scene".
I have so many amazing, awesome and single friends who literally just don't have an opportunity to meet guys. At least not guys that are good enough for them! Especially as we get older, I find that friends circles get smaller and tighter, which has it's pros but one of the cons is that there aren't many opportunities to meet people outside of those circles. After a few years with the same people, even the friends of friends circles are exhausted. This is an unfortunate situation because what's a girl to do? I guess the same applies to guys as well but I'm much more familiar with this problem amongst my girlfriends. The craziest thing is that these are really amazing people that have the life-experience and understanding of self-identity that they're ready for someone else to enter the equation (at least, that's my perception).
So, why not online dating as a solution? I use to have a theory that only "desperate" people signed up for online dating. This came from the thought that online dating is a last resort and there's got to be significant reasons for why these individuals couldn't make it work "on their own". However, the reality is, we don't have community barn dances, there is rarely a self-proclaimed match maker for each small town (not even to mention the cities!), and the traditional understanding of dating and relationships have changed so much that there is more diversity in what's out there. Some people aren't interested in anything serious until later in life while others are eager for a something right out of high school. Then there's the spectrum of your beliefs, values and just overall approach to life. Yes, the world's population may be at an all time high but doesn't directly equate a better likelihood of finding "true love" because there is so much diversity, especially in thought and philosophy, that perhaps makes it even more challenging to find someone to be the peanut butter to your jam. Needless to say, I've changed my perspective about online dating; I don't believe it's reserved for the desperate and the socially awkward, instead, I think it's for those who are smart about using the resources available to them to expand their dating context and apply a methodical and rather practical way of starting a relationship.
Once I got past my former way of thinking, online dating just makes so much sense! Why wouldn't you want to search an entire city, province, country or globe (only for the very ambitious) for someone that has already expressed qualities that are highly compatible with who you are? We're so quick to use are internet resources for so many other things that it's somewhat perplexing there are still stigmas surrounding the idea of online dating. My goodness, if we're willing to trust Wikipedia for information to be used in our academic papers, why is there hesitation to make use of an online dating website?

* As a side note, I do not condone using Wikipedia as a secondary resource for anything. It's not that I have an irrational distrust in the honesty of humanity, I know it's just too easy and too tempting to put up false information just because you can! I do admit to using Wikipedia to get the basic info so that I can be more focused when looking for legitimate resources. 

I feel a bit hypocritical or something of the like because I am ranting on about this while enjoying the knowledge that I've found my guy for life and I don't need to be looking anywhere! However, for those of you who are still looking for someone, I challenge you to be more open minded about the online dating thing. There's no harm in just checking it out and I personally know instances where it's worked out very well for people. For everyone else, especially if you think like I did about 6 months ago, I challenge you to think about the value and function of online dating in our society. It's not flawless but maybe think twice before you scoff at the idea or at the people who sign up for "those things". Although there are some less serious members (like when you sign up just to see who you know from high school has opted for the online dating route), for the most part you've got to give the members credit for just admit that they're looking for someone special and recognizing a great resource they can use to help get them there. If you completely disagree, that's fine. I just hope you can keep an open mind :)