Has the Move To Online Living Helped Online Dating?

Millions of people all around the world are members of
online dating services it seems, with these numbers growing larger and larger
every day. With the influx of free online dating websites cropping up, the rate
of sign ups has been pushed even higher. The decreasing stigma of online
dating, while still evident, is becoming less of an issue for people.  Is this because of the growing number of
relationships, romantic or otherwise, and communication (through blogs, videos,
emails, and so on) that has moved online? Or, is this growth due to the success
of online daters?

            There's no
doubt that a significant amount of our day to day communications with others
have moved online. Emailing and instant messaging are frequent mediums for
talking with colleagues, friends, and family. We read our news from online
newspapers and even blogs, and we search for articles, recipies, and directions
online. We can shop for clothing, cars, music, and home accessories online. We
watch movies, TV shows, and listen to music over the internet. With all these
aspects of our lives now available through our computers, it's little surprise
that romance and dating has now moved online too, and has occupied a chunk of
the web for some time now. Though this part of online communication carried a
negative stigma with it at one time, this too is beginning to change. Partly,
this can be attributed to evolution of popular online communication, from
emailing, to message boards and forums, to social networking sites.  The huge growth in popularity of social
networking websites has made the leap to online dating little more than a small
hop. However, many social networking sites are used to keep in touch with
already established friends, while online dating sites are often used to meet
new people.