Online Dating Romance: Is it all in your mind or does it really work?

The jittery feeling in your stomach, the tingling in your brain at the mention of their name, and the tossing and turning at night as you can’t get your new crush out of your thoughts and off your mind – we all know the symptoms of falling in love. But when we start to feel those sensations over the Internet and across cyberspace, can we trust them to be authentic? Or is it all a mental concoction?

Feelings of love constitute a philosophical and psychological set of perpetual questions that have been pondered by great minds since the beginning of time. And who knows how Cupid works on each of us or what our unique responses are to the chemistry of mutual attraction? But the validity of online chemistry is certain and factual, and has been borne out by experience, statistical evidence, and an unprecedented boom in the popularity of online dating. Online romance happens, online matchmaking works, and the people who participate often do find the significant other who turns out to the love of their life.

But cyber dating is different from a cyber relationship, and this is probably where most of the confusion and skepticism begins. In a relationship, there are many dynamics that come into play. And if you have ever experienced a long distance relationship, you know that there are special problems involved in dating someone who lives at an inconvenient distance. The same is true of romance over the Internet – distance doesn’t necessarily impede the relationship, but it does create a unique set of challenges. But whether you are across town or across the continent, a romance that is only active via the Internet will by definition become long distance. It is not unlike having a relationship based only on writing letters and sending packages.

The successful romances begin over the Internet, but then move offline. And if you keep that in mind while using cyber dating sites, you will have better chances of finding a satisfying relationship. And keep in mind that the Internet allows you to meet eligible singles from all over the world, so if you are living in Alaska and fall in love with someone in Australia, it will carry the same kinds of challenges as any conventional long distance relationship. To avoid this kind of result, use sites that allow you search profiles based on location. For instance, if you live in Houston, Texas, you may want to peruse profiles of other singles in Houston, or within a 40-mile radius of your home. And if you are planning to travel overseas for a year to work on your French, you may want to search for singles in Paris, with the goal of getting together with them once you land in Europe.

Take advantage of the various search tools offered by romance sites, and then get to know others who are interested in dating. Before you know it, the proverbial love bug may bite you. But nobody has come up with a remedy for that one, so once you fall in love, you two are on your own.