Internet dating is big business, the stats speak for themselves really. The industry is worth $2 billion worldwide and apparently 17% of all marriages are from couples that have met online according to StatisticBrain.

We’re all slowly beginning to accept that we just don’t have enough time for traditional dating and therefore online dating is losing the stigma of being seedy and full of unsavoury types.

So here’s why I think it’s OK to use the internet to find love.

The internet’s not just for dating

I’m a big internet user, that’s a given, but I’ve given up counting the number of people I’ve met through using the internet. I’m not just talking about dating, I mean friends, housemates, work colleagues (through using the internet to job search), that kind of stuff. A friend of mine even found a new friend whilst looking for a wardrobe on Gumtree.

You might meet a partner through an Internet connection

Leading on from the last point, the internet may still be largely responsible for how you meet a partner. Any number of those people that I’d met above could have lead to something more (some of them did) and other have introduced me to new people that I could very well, one day fall for, while others have shown me new experiences where I meet yet more people.

You don’t have to be on a dating website

Other people I’ve come across have met fiancées through internet gaming, with their love transcending time zones. You don’t have to go all out internet dating to meet new people that might lead you to love. It’s about opening up your opportunities.

‘Internet dating’ doesn’t have to be your love story

I know people that have been concerned about having ‘we met online’ as the love story of how they got together, but that really is the very start and is it any better or worse than ‘we met in a bar?’ I know a couple who initially met online, split, got back together, split, got back together and are now married. There is so much more to the story of how they got to where they are today than ‘we met online.’ There story is so interesting, humorous and heart-warming that the internet bit is largely irrelevant.

There is nothing wrong with admitting you’re looking for love

Even before Internet dating became so popular, women were certainly lamenting the lack of decent men and how troublesome dating could be. We’ve all seen Sex and the City (though whether we’ll admit to that is a different matter) and we know that even with the more relaxed american attitudes to dating, it’s still like finding a needle in a haystack. Believe me, there are way more desperate people that trawl pubs and clubs for suitors than those found online.

So, what are you waiting for? Make yourself a profile and get dating. And if you need help with your online dating profile, check this out or this too (specifically for ladies).