Online Dating: Desperate or Downright Awesome?

So there's this Match.com commercial swirling about stating that 1 outta 5 relationships (or marriages...I dunno) are the result of internet dating.
So what is internet dating? Well, it's pretty straight-forward: it's an online outlet for people too busy, timid, socially awkward, etc. to find a significant other in the real world. People sign up, fill out sheet after sheet of personality so-and-so's and compatibility what's-it-called's and voila, you are suddenly one step closer to getting laid.

Hell, I can't knock it. I've tried it, and if you're as single as I am, I'm sure you've tried it too.

First, I tried Myspace; browsing pictures and nearby zip-codes. Then it was Craig's List; sifting through all the fake posts for that one crazy who may or may not axe you to death when you don't tell her you love her on the first date; and then, there was Match, a site where you wink at people in hopes of getting the point across that you may want to pursue something.

The one thing they all have in common besides thousands of delusional fruitcakes: it's the same damn thing as Ebay, Amazon, or any other shopping website, because that is precisely what you do. You scroll and scan and stop on a certain girl/guy that, just like when you eyed that certain 40" widescreen at Best Buy, fills you with a certain amount of material want. It's all bologna, it's all appearance. No one reads the fine print and how they built orphanages in Africa or the time they met the cast of Saved by the Bell on a cruise ship.
Guys look for two things: pictures and whether these chicks have kids or not.

Girls look for three things: pictures, kids or not, and a dude's yearly income.

Take it from me, a non-photogenic, grad student living at home: your best bet is to go out and meet people away from the computer. That is, of course, it's the summer or spring, because you should damn well know that all females hibernate in the winter months.