One curious but interesting way to know that a niche product or services has finally join the mainstream is when every little information about the niche product or services does not make the news any more. That is what seem to have now happened to online dating. Gone are the days when each new wedding that resulted from the couple meeting online makes the news.

Some of the newsworthy reports from online dating comes from niches within online dating itself for example the recent announcement of a couple who got engaged after meeting at an online dating site setup specifically for “ugly people” even this story seem more like a PR stunt than a real success for the so call dating site for ugly people.

Despite the the fact that online dating is now the norm, the industry is still growing at a healthy rate with more people getting online and the cost of Internet access going down steadily while availability of Wi-Fi and mobile Internet becoming the norm with every smart phone. All these technology are making online dating and social media in general more accessible to people.

Another thing that has significantly help the growth of online dating is the fact that the stigma attached to meeting people online is now receding making people who will consider online dating but for the stigma have the courage to try this not so new way of meeting new partner.

Despite all the factors that counts in favour of online dating, the exponential growth predicted is not happening as analyst expected. Some of the factors blamed for that includes the fact that the curiosity factor of online dating is beginning to wear off with some people reverting to the traditional ways of meeting people coupled with the success of speed dating.

Continuous improvement in the technology of online dating is mitigating the membership decline through the lost of the curiosity factor. Technical Director of one popular dating platform was quote as follows following the introduction of a tool called the “ice breaker” to their dating platform.
“We have never seen so many of our members logged in at one time. It’s the highest we’ve had this year and has beaten the previous record set in the last quarter of 2009 by over 15%”.

Online dating may not be growing as fast as people expected but all indication shows that it is not only here to stay but it has become part of the establishment and it is growing at a healthy rate year-on-year.

“For better for worst…. till death do us part” are some of the fine words contained in the vow of marriage. Couples, usually head over heals in love exchange this vows when getting married and do mean those words at the time, but it is well known that 50% of marriages end up in divorce.

Most of the time, children are involved when marriages or long term relationship break down. After things has been finalised by divorcing or separating, you are single again, soon or late, dating starts to feature on the agenda.

Women are not always the one with custody of the child or children but in majority of cases they are, so this article is primarily written for the single again woman with children.

A lot has not changed in the dating scene since you were last dating, in terms of the kind of man or woman you want to meet, you know yourself best and you know the kind of attributes you are looking for in a partner, the only big question is, where to meet that kind on man?. On the front of where to meet the right partner, a lot has change. In addition to the traditional meeting places such as bar, discos, parties and so on, there is now online dating.

Online dating particularly suit the single mum, you do not have to worry about arranging baby sitting, you just need to get to your computer, get online once the children are tucked in bed or when they are way with friends, log in to “Sunday Night Social” and start looking for you potential partner.

If your preferred way of meeting a new date is one of the good old fashion ways, then just arrange to go out with your friend or friends in the evening or at the weekend, you know you locality well, the choice of where you go is down to you and your friends.

The most important part of this article is actually to do with safety of you children once you start dating again, you are an adult and can look after yourself, however it is important that you do not expose your children to potential danger with the new person in your life. The simple guidelines below will hopefully keep you informed and help you keep your children safe.

Single mum dating guidelines

* Introduce the new man to your children as just a friend initially.
* Take your children’s opinion into consideration before getting deeply involved in a new relationship.
* The new man cannot be a replacement for the children’s dad, do not try to turn him to one.
* Do not pressurise your children to like someone they may not like very much.
* Once your new relationship is getting stronger to the extent that the new man in your life is spending the night in your home, consider doing a CRB check on him.

The big online dating “season” is just starting, which makes this a good time to talk about online dating scammers.

I get a lot of people asking me how to spot a scammer online and the truth is, spotting a scammer is at once very difficult and very easy.

Back when I used to work as a moderator, it was my job to spot scammers before they even got a chance to try and scam someone by looking at their profiles, and sometimes the messages they tried to send. Some scammers are easy to spot like that.

They’d be dating on a site set up to accept only people in the UK, but their profile would say they were in Africa (so how did they get the number of a UK credit card, the only type of card they could use to sign up?)

Their pictures would be obviously posed pictures taken in a studio of very attractive women or pictures blatantly scanned from a magazine (grain showing).

Their profiles would be a collection of adjectives (“I’m happy, loving, caring…”) that were sometimes pretty bizarre and obviously taken from a dictionary without being fully understood.

Some would go on about being “God fearing” and ask for money straight away, or even try the Nigerian money scam in their first message!

So yes, these scammers are easy to spot before they even make a move, but obviously not all scammers are that obvious and stupid. Today’s scammers are often far more adept at being indistinguishable from decent people, until they make their move.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that once they make their move, scammers are really easy to spot. This is because scammers want your money, so sooner or later they will make some excuse and ask for money. Sometimes they will work you for a while – weeks or even months – before asking for money, but sooner or later they will. Usually without ever having met you in person.

Unfortunately, by that point, their would be victim is already emotionally invested in the situation, which makes it harder to come to terms with the fact that you’re dealing with a scammer. This is why it’s important to remember that if someone asks you for money so early on, it’s a bad idea, regardless of whether or not they are a professional, known scammer. The best thing to do is refuse and move on.

An Online Dating Blog by Shimrit Elisar

Nicola is looking to get back into the dating game and hopefully meet someone special. She has a great sense of humor and great zest for life.
She loves cooking,dining out and movies. Not forgetting weekends away!
She would ideally love to meet the same kind of person.

So guys what are you waiting for?
Click the icon to see her profile and send her a message

“ For local dating, this is the just the best ! I have met a great guy on here and hope that things will work out !”

“Before I signed up, I was a really skeptical,but now I’ve met someone it’s been worth it!