When you’re browsing through love profiles online, you might be blinded by the love. You might find that all of your potential love interests seem to be into you, so you’re willing to do anything – even catch and pass on a dangerous love bug.

A computer virus.

Just like other more intimate moments, you need to make sure you’re protecting yourself and others from viruses that plague the online dating world. Even if you’re certain your computer is clean, another person’s computer may not.

And not everyone is exactly what they seem to be.

First of all, never, ever click on any links in emails from others you don’t really know. These can be routes into your computer for phishing attacks and hackers. Yes, this means you even need to avoid those cute-sy e-cards that everyone is sending. They can be virus-toting time bombs.

It’s also a good idea to avoid giving out your personal information to anyone – especially password information. While this should be common sense, you need to realize that hackers know how vulnerable you might be as a struggling single.

But you need to make sure they don’t get what they want – your money and your data.

To further protect yourself, make sure your email address for your online dating account isn’t your ‘real’ email address. Sign up for a free account with Hotmail, for example, to keep your life and your dating separate. This will only hinder cyber attacks more.

You can be safe and clean from this modern love bug. And don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Safety Cyber Attacks, Disease, Identity, Love, Money, Online Safety, Profile, Virus

The single life is something we mock. We talk about how horrible it is to celebrate holidays on our own, how terrible it is to walk into a party without a date, and how awful it feels when our families ask us (once again) if we’re ever going to find the right person.

But maybe those already in couples don’t understand.

Being single is an exciting time, a time in which we have more choices, more independence, and perhaps even more fun than when we’re in a couple. We get to learn about ourselves, who we are and what we truly enjoy. This is a time we all should embrace, rather than a time to try to avoid.

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution to find your true love, maybe it’s time to fall in love with your single life first. Not only is it going to help you enjoy the moments you experience now, but you’re also going to be able to embrace that future partner with the confidence of knowing who you really are.

When we simply focus on finding someone else, we can forget to think about what we like, what we want, and who we are. And that’s when we end up in relationships that are unbalanced and just wrong for our needs.

For today, be okay with being single. Be okay with being by yourself. After all, you do have options and you do have a life outside of dating. Don’t you?

Family Couples, Family, Love, Relationships, Single

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