E-Dating has become more and more popular amongst tech savvy individuals on finding their soul mate from the comfort of their bedroom. Meeting the opposite sex in person seems to be taking a backseat to the ease and speed of something as simple as looking at a profile.

Online dating sites can be excellent tools to expand your social circle of friends as well as try to make new romantic connections with people you would have otherwise never met. The only problem is that they are only as functional, clean and good as the people who log on. While some Web sites specialize in meeting your soon-to-be significant other (OkCupid, Match.com, eHarmony, Chemistry.com, and Plenty of Fish), you can also find hopeful romantics on simple social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and even Twitter.

It is imperative to remember that a lot of these networking Web sites do not provide all of their services for free; these sites might also condone its own way of connecting people. For example, eHarmony is based on pre-screening its applicants using a variety of personality tests. One criticism about this particular dating site is that it takes quite a while to answer the 258 question test. Additionally, a potential member may be rejected without reason if they provide inconsistent answers. Those who are under 21 or those who have been married four times and are still under the age of 60 will also be rejected from using this social site.

An article published in The Washington Post in 2007 stated that about one in five people do not meet eHarmony’s requirements and many people are rejected upon completion of the test. Despite the fact that eHarmony has about 15 million registered users, it stills costs a full subscription to have access to all the features.

To find preference matches on OkCupid, users must answer questions generated by current members. This way, it can easily get answers to questions people really want to know. While it is free to register an account at OkCupid, it also has paid optional services (which they call “A-List” services) such as the ability to search, message and chat on the site. While these services may seem to be something one would expect to get for free, this is actually not the case. Be sure to read the Web site’s terms of services before becoming a member to see if they have an automatic subscription renewal service.

But how successful are these online services anyway? How often do matches come from these tests? And how many marriages? The Web site eHarmony advertises that “on average, 236 eHarmony members get married every day; that accounts for 2 percent of all U.S. marriages,” according to a 2007 survey for the Web site.

These numbers do not mean that all services are perfect. According to Neil Warren’s 2005 article “Online Passion,” eHarmony’s membership is about 58 percent female and 42 percent male where as Match.com is the opposite. Other problems include vast differences in members’ ages as well as members not being truthful about their single status and frequent infidelity mishaps.

One of the most well-known problems with online dating services is often discrimination or lack of what some would call political correctness. The site, eHarmony, has drawn huge criticism for this reason and was even taken to court in 2007 due to only catering to heterosexual relationships. While OkCupid has the option to choose “bisexual” as an orientation, many others do not. Most sites also require members to choose their sex as “male” or “female” which often makes matters complicated for transgendered individuals.

According to The New York Times, most often the only choice one has to circumvent these problems is to set up an account with an online dating service which only cater to a particular group or religion such as JDate for Jewish singles), Black Christian People Meet, or Shaadi for Indian singles.

One of the bigger things to remember about online dating sites is overall safety. Upon registration, sites like eHarmony, Match.com and Yahoo! Personals inform the individual to take precaution. These sites stress the point of taking guard of your personal information and to be weary of what some may call an “internet stalker.” Even simple information written in blogs or snapshots in photos should be checked over to make sure you cannot be traced by another member.

If you do feel a romantic spark and would like to set up a first date, it is best to take some simple and unhindered precautions. Make plans to go out at a public place. Never go to their place of residence or allow them to come to yours on the first meeting. If you desire a less intimate setting, take a friend with you or try to schedule a double date with that person, and keep communication through e-mails and private messages before handing out your phone number.

Most importantly of all, if you sense anything suspicious and weird about the person, or if they seem a bit too much for you to handle, break it off immediately. Online dating services seem to be here to stay for the time being: helping us network, find friends and even find that special someone while we try to manage our daily lives.