Don’t think it’s fair that most dating websites focus only on men when they’re talking about who to avoid online? Neither do we. So here are 3 types of women you want to avoid on dating sites – date them at your own risk.

The “I’m Looking for a Friend” Woman

First of all, no self-respecting woman wants to go onto a dating website for friendship. She wants to get married – that’s it. But there’s another possible explanation. If she’s specific about finding a ‘friend’ it can also mean she just wants to hook up with someone. Know what I mean?

The “I’m a Casual Type of Gal” Woman

The woman who posts pictures of herself hiking along the Grand Canyon? Take a closer look. She might profess to being an outdoorsy type of woman who’s ready for an adventure, but she’s still wearing makeup. Contradiction, anyone?

This woman is toting makeup in her hiking gear. And she’s not low maintenance. By any means.

The “I’m So Desperate You Can Smell It” Woman

This woman has listed in her profile all of the typical man things. She loves football, hanging out on the couch, and even gun shows. While there are women like this out there, if she doesn’t have anything girly on her profile, it means she just wants a man, like, NOW. RIGHT NOW.

Of course there are male types to avoid as well. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Personal Profiles Avoid, Desperate, Hook Up, Women

Right now, you might be feeing the pinch of the economy’s woes. Whether your 401K is shaky or your job is looking unsure, we’ve all been affected in some way by the economy.

Well, everyone but the online dating market.

It seems that even when the money situation is tough, the search for love is something our budgets will still allow. And this makes sense. We want to forget our woes and find someone with whom we can commiserate.

We want to have good times and make good memories – and online dating allows us to do so. True, the cost of online dating is quite low, so it does make it easier to leave this added expense in our monthly costs, but the satisfaction that comes along with a good date is priceless.

So, does this mean if you’re not already online that you should add this cost to your budget? Perhaps. Or you can look for free online dating services like Facebook, MySpace or Mingle2. Better still, there are others out there which have recently become free, such as Metrodate.

Love doesn’t have to cost a thing, after all.

The continued importance of online dating in the plunging economy proves one thing about the human condition – we still know that love is what really matters. No matter what might be happening in the world around us.

News & Views Cost, Economy, Facebook, Free, Love, Mingle2.com, Money, MySpace

While online dating continues to grow and to mature, it still is getting picked on by society. You may have heard that it’s cheesy, it’s ineffective, and those who find dates online are somehow desperate.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

No one out there thinks twice about finding a job online or about shopping for the perfect belt online – but society still thinks online dating is strange? It doesn’t really make sense anymore.

We are a world that has turned to online dating in order to make our lives easier, not because we are desperate. We have turned to online dating just like the world has turned to social networking sites to interact with people from grade school.

But if you still cling to the idea that online dating is somehow lesser than ‘real ‘dating, you’re probably going to encounter some troubles along the way.

The truth is that online dating still has a bad rep because those people haven’t tried it or they’ve had one bad experience with an online date. But just as with ‘real’ dating, you have your ups and your downs, your good dates and your horror stories.

To get over the stigma of online dating, spend more time in the message boards, not only taking with prospective dates, but also talking with people who are dating others. You are all in this together – and you are on a new frontier of love, exploring and finding out that relationships are possible, even when the landscape and the methods are different.

Dating Essentials Desperate, Embarrassed, Opinion, Society, Stigma