There are online dating sites geared toward practically any highly specific interest out there, and since people are all about being green, it should be no surprise that there are tons for eco-minded people. Green Singles, Green-Passions, Earth Wise Singles, and Green Speed Dating are a few of the sites I will not be joining. I couldn’t handle being judged on yet another criterion—my carbon footprint. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Sure, more than 20 million people visit an online dating site every month, but how many do you actually want to meet? And then after you do come face to face with the few you deem worthy, how many of those do you want to keep seeing? If your experience is anything like mine, you know that the second number is small—heck, it might even be zero. So, after you’ve gone out with someone you’d rather not have to feign interest in, you have a couple choices.

Forget fancy algorithms, one online dating site uses a technique that’s less high-tech to pair up its members SawYouAtSinai.com, an Orthodox Jewish singles site, employs 365 actual matchmakers who go through users’ profiles and make recommendations. Tova Weinberg, one of the site’s matchmakers, spends eight hours a day looking at profiles, and she says she’s responsible for 1,000 dates a week. I wouldn’t mind paying $11 to $15 per month, to have someone else sift through dud profiles for me—if only I were Jewish. [Time]

For some people the idea of having an affair is super sexy, but also complicated, time consuming, and dangerous. That’s why it should come as no surprise that there are actually matchmaking services out there dedicated to bringing two morally bankrupt, already committed people together. Meet2Cheat and The Ashley Madison Agency both charge pretty reasonable sums to pair up men and women who are dying to stray but too lazy or ugly to make a forbidden love connection with someone they already know. Haven’t they heard of Craigslist? [Via Twentysomething Tales]

As any savvy online dater knows, you can spend hours crafting the perfect combination of wit, sophistication, and charm, but all your pretty words won’t mean squat if your photo reeks.

That’s not to say that you need to be a ringer for Angelina or J. Lo to get any play (though obviously that wouldn’t be a hindrance), but you do need to have a photo that shows you in the best possible light without it being a completely misleading deception.

When our neocortex was developing way back in the day, the average human group consisted of around 150 people, and members of reproductive age totaled around 25. Sounds like slim picking compared to the abundance of prospects available today through online dating sites like Match.com, right? Well, researchers studied people’s preferences for how many options are best when it comes to how satisfied people are with mate options, and among the 88 study participants, 20 to 50 possible mates seemed to be the preferred amount. Using online dating with access to millions of guys might actually be hindering us. It’s like when you go to a restaurant that has 100 different sandwich choices on its menu. You end up spending a lot of time trying to figure out what you want, and then after you place your order, you can’t help but wonder whether you might have liked the one with avocado better. [Physorg.com]

It’s sad, but true: If you’re out and about, looks are probably the most important factor when it comes to attracting people. If you see a not-so-hot guy, there’s a good chance you’re not going to go over and strike up a conversation. In the online dating world, appearances are important, but it’s often difficult to tell whether people are attractive from their pictures—strategic camera angles can do wonders. What really makes me want to get to know and meet a guy is if he gives good email, and I think they feel the same way.

Check out this cartoon depicting one guy’s thoughts about online dating. It starts out on a positive note—the girl he’s been chatting with says she’ll go on a date with him, and he even gets some virtual tongue action via instant messenger. Things seem to be going well enough, as they take a ride on a ferris wheel, go to the movies, have a picnic in the park, go to bed together…and then, you realize the guy is dreaming. This is so true about online dating. Since you haven’t met any of the people, you can imagine them however you want (with a face like Casey Affleck and a voice like Pierce Brosnan). You can visualize your life with them until you meet them. Then, you see that they completely suck or can’t hold a conversation or don’t look like their pictures at all. “[Dating is] like buying a CD, only if you like the CD, you have to call the store and see if they’ll let you keep it. And if you don’t like it, you have to call the store and tell them why,” one of my friends told me. That’s why I illegally download music. [I Am Bored]

Nothing says Penthouse magazine quite like boobs, a g-string, and good Christian morals….wait, whaaaa? The porno publication famous for its scantily clad “pets” has been saved from financial ruin by branching out into internet dating with BigChurch.com. The site, which boasts a half a million members nationwide, is like a conservative Jesus-loving version of JDate.com. Sexy pickup lines include “Love God and you will be loved too,” “Trying 2 find the Light can u help,” and “I’m looking for Christian woman with mature thinking for good relationship.” [Newsweek]

I think (and desperately, desperately hope) that all single people encounter dry spells. I don’t mean dry spells during which you get no physical love. I mean dry spells during which members of the opposite sex refuse to talk to you. Maybe their schedules are too packed watching March Madness games, or perhaps they’re feeling unattractive because they’ve developed a layer of fat to keep warm during the winter months, but for whatever reason, girls don’t exist.

The last two months were a dry spell for me. During the 61 days that made up April and May, exactly zero people took any interest in my online dating profile. A handful of men looked at my page, but no one winked at me and no one messaged me. I’m not even sure how this is statistically possible—right now there are 856 people “online now” in my area, according to the site—but during that time I was viewed as a communicative disease in the online dating world. I don’t put much stock into horoscopes, however, mine sucked during those two months, so maybe the stars are to blame.

Japan’s 65 and older population is expected to double by 2050, and the number of them who are single is also increasing. Luckily, old people are getting more familiar with something called the internet, and in Japan, a cultural change has happened, and older people can talk about being sexual, which means they need to find people to be sexual with them. In short, they are starting to online date—about 9 percent of Match.com members in Japan are 50 and over.

“I Want You To Want Me,” an interactive installation at MoMA, uses information from online dating profiles to explore the search for love and self. I wonder if my profile is included. [I Want You To Want Me]

Online dating is not just winks and flirty emails. Some dates are so full of halting conversation they would best be portrayed in silent-movie form. This is the story of one such bad date. After emailing back and forth a few times, N. and I decide to get a drink. We agree to meet at the corner of a busy intersection, for reasons I don’t remember.

Have you ever wondered what your friends really think of you? Let them pick out your dates, and you’ll know instantly.

I’ve been online dating for about three months. And just as frequenting a bar means you’re bound to run into guys you’ve already exchanged numbers or spit with, so does browsing through profiles over and over again (my preferred search method is looking at the “Online Now” section). In an effort to mix things up, and hopefully meet some new people, I had my boss Amelia and best friend Nathan sift through the profiles for me. The rules: They could browse as much as they wanted but could only “wink” at three people. I would wait and see who responded, and, hopefully, go out with whomever contacted me and seemed normal.

Online dating is more popular than ever!  Just like the movie and music industry, it’s getting into the wallets (and pants) of niche markets, as dating sites are getting as particular as their clients. Are our top five picks for going indie online, after the jump…

He’s not Jewish, he might not even be circumcised, but teen heartthrob Jesse McCartney is on JDate.com, the chosen internet love site for the chosen people. With so many girl fans chasing him, why is the former Summerland star chasing Jewesses? “One of my best buddies is a conservative Jew and his sister had met her boyfriend on JDate,” explains Jesse, who apparently only plays music, not women. The 20-year-old acting/singing sensation decided to try his luck at online dating since his sad split with David Cassidy’s daughter, Katie. “I find myself eager to make a woman laugh!!” he wrote in his “About Me” section on the site. The star, who is working on his third solo album, is no schlub. He’s sweet and genuinely searching for someone to be the Bonnie to his Clyde. Could you be the Bat-Mitzvahed girl he’s been praying for? On his profile, Jesse, aka Jbagel07, breaks out of his boy band image and says he likes to barbecue, golf, go wine tasting, and considers himself low-maintenance. (How can a boy with highlights call himself low-maintenance?)  But according to Jesse, “Whatever you wanna do—crazy or low key…I’m down for whatever.” Hot. Does that include eating pork? [In Touch]

A couple months ago, I came home from work one evening and suddenly decided to sign up for online dating. Without telling or consulting anyone—I didn’t want to lose my nerve—I hastily chose a screen name, uploaded the first picture I found, and wrote some random blurbs. In my refrigerator one will find…beer, milk, eggs, and jelly. Twenty-five years from now I see myself…having a few wrinkles, mostly from laughing.

Looking back, I realize I probably should have had a friend edit my profile, filter my personality, and help me pick a photo, but I got 40 “winks” in the first 30 days, so I figured I couldn’t have done that bad a job. Then Leslie Oren, author of Fine, I’ll Go Online!: The Hollywood Publicist’s Guide to Successful Internet Dating, took a look.