A guy friend told me last month that despite his ability to meet women when he’s out, he has several online dating profiles. He, like some of my other friends, suggested I set up an account on Match.com or its equivalent now that I’ve reentered the dating scene after several years. 

When I gave him the same line I’d given other people—“I don’t think I need to”—he said, quite matter-of-factly, “Everybody needs to. It’s just how things are going to be now.”

Although there’s still a certain inexplicable stigma attached to it, I am a huge proponent of online dating. I met my long-term boyfriend that way and the majority of weddings I’ve been to over the past couple years have been for couples who’ve met via the internet.

So whenever I hear a friend whine about how they never meet anyone, I give them the online spiel. Heck, Nerve.com should be paying me a commission because I’ve talked so many people into joining.

But as awesome as online dating is for expanding your dating pool, there are also some negatives. The biggest being that it can bring out the worst in people. And by people, I mean you.

A friend of mine is tipping her toe into the online dating pool and has been asking me for advice on navigating the waters. So, in honor of her, and some of our very own Frisky staff who have been doing the same toe-tipping themselves, as well as anyone else out there who has wondered how to best maximize the opportunity, I present the Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating after the jump.

Recently, we found ourselves in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest’s Interactive Conference. It was a tornado of fish tacos, rain and excessive Twittering. But the rare occasion to have bloggers and big players in new media together for a week made it a perfect opportunity to ask their opinion on the web-couple’s ultimate dilemma: To blog or not to blog…

Banks are foreclosing on houses. Jobs are being outsourced. Popular retail stores are shutting down. Magazines like Domino are folding. Despite the economy being pretty much in the crapper, romance is on the rise. Popular online dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony are seeing a spike in the number of people signing up looking for love; Match.com saw its biggest membership growth in seven years in November, and eHarmony.com registrations increased 20 percent in 2008.  Yes, it seems people are dumping their change jars into Coinstar machines and flocking to online dating sites. But why would you pay for a gamble on love when the gas and electric people are sending you death threats? It boils down to one simple word…

Picture this: You’re single, you’re 42, and you’re determined to get a husband this year. But just how far would you go to meet your soul mate? Would you let the whole world know you are actively seeking out a life-long mate? That’s what 42-year-old Neenah Pickett is doing. She publicly announced she was looking for a man to put a ring on it, by creating a website called 52Weeks2FindHim.com. The site is completely devoted to her conquest to find a husband before the end of 2009. Pickett blogs daily, pondering about having children and reminding herself how amazing she is. She describes herself as a media consultant from New Jersey who’s religious and has an adventurous spirit. In order to find Mr. Right, Pickett plans to go on as many dates as possible. Even though we’re only a few days into 2009, she already has dates lined up, having received more than 100 emails from guys since the site launched. 

John Edwards, Balthazar Getty, Eliot Spitzer, cheating husbands have been all over the news here in the States. But in Britain, adulterous wives are the ones making headlines. According to the Telegraph U.K., more lonely housewives are looking for love on the Internet than ever before. Sites like IllicitEncounters.com have seen their numbers jump from 55 women signing up a day in 2007 to the nearly triple 142 times a day average just last week. What’s driving these women to look for hot sex behind their husbands’ backs? Well, Sara Hartley, a spokeswoman for the site, thinks the plummeting economy is causing the rise in cheaters. While their white-collar husbands are busy working long hours to fight the credit crisis and keep their jobs, their trophy wives are getting bored. Women with nothing to do but wait around for their husbands? Grrr…. I suppose everyone needs love, so who can blame these Hester Prynne’s for taking matters into their own hands via the Interweb? Hmm, wonder if American women will be using their economic stimulus checks to cheat on their husbands too?  [Telegraph U.K.]