Here’s a quick exercise you can use if you’re trying to figure out whether or not to get involved with online dating. Each of us has different ideas on what is important, but it sometimes helps to write things down on paper.

Here’s a quick list that applies to me.

Pros:

• If you’re shy, online dating is a lot easier than walking up to a complete stranger.

• The pool available online is pretty large. I’m able to chat with a lot of quality females from the privacy of my living room.

I was surfing the net today and I came across an item written by Andrew Johnstone which states: research shows that 97% of all men give up on online dating within 3 months of starting. That number really jumped out at me, and after giving it some thought, I have to dispute it.

As I’ve outlined before, internet dating involves a lot of work up front to make the entire process successful. Once you eliminate the pool of people who are only using free dating sites, I think the number of people that fail is significantly smaller than what Johnstone states.

Here’s an interesting story this morning regarding the use of background checks for online dating sites. The article goes into detail about the ongoing debate on whether or not these checks will add any value to a dating service.

Of all the major online dating companies, only True.com currently provides a screening process for it’s customers. This process involves running names through state databases of criminal records. There are arguments about whether or not the screening test is comprehensive or thorough enough, and it may lead True.com members into a false sense of security.

Sandra Rossi with Computerworld Australia wrote a great article which I thought was an interesting read. It deals with the invention of a Russian “flirt-bot” or spyware that is able to gather personal information from unsuspecting singles.

Talk about an instance of technology gone bad. This “flirt-bot” named CyberLover is able to initiate and conduct conversations with unsuspecting humans in chat rooms, notably online dating sites. Developed in Russia, the creators of CyberLover claim it is able to simultaneously establish a new relationship with up to 10 different people inside of 30 minutes.