London is an exciting place to be. There’s an infinite number and combination of things to do, whatever you’re into, and an eclectic mix of people to do it all with.
However, if, like most Londoners, you’re caught up in the daily hustle associated with living in the Big Smoke, then you’ll know all too well that it can be really hard to get out and meet people or casually chat them up in a bar (or wherever else).
The population is fast-moving, transient, their senses saturated, and the city vast. It can be hard to bump into the same people a few times in the same spot and build up a rapport, if that’s more your style.
And if it isn’t, then you’d need to be good at moving things along quickly when you meet someone for the first time, for example arranging a next date, exchanging phone numbers – basically laying your cards on the table.
City dwellers are also notorious overtime investors and workaholics. They can be in the office for 12 hours a day, sometimes more, so the inclination and energy to go out and make a concerted effort to meet people can be non-existent.
The solution that more and more time-poor singles in London are trying their hand at is online dating. If you’re looking for an online dating site that covers London, then you won’t need to look far.
Dating site group, Global Personals, owns DatingAgency.com, which is a fantastic example of an online dating site that appeals to a broad spectrum of people, with thousands of members located in London already trying out the service for size.
As of 2011/12, the online dating phenomenon has become officially cool. The last couple of years has seen online dating shed its image as being something reserved only for the shy, and has become somewhat of a lifestyle choice for many. It’s now seen as an efficient and thrilling way to meet new people, and as each niche becomes catered for by various sites, so the services become streamlined and the customer experience improves exponentially.
So how has shift in public opinion and image happened? We can put it partly down to time, and partly down to our acquaintance with social networking and the etiquette that goes along with it. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Pinterest, YouTube etc. etc., we as a global community have become better accustomed to communicating with strangers via the Internet, and are perhaps therefore less scared of communicating blindly.
A huge number of mobile phone users also now own smartphones, so the amount of time we spend communicating via the Internet and sharing content has increased, too. We are just more used to this way of interacting with people – therefore, connecting with and chatting online to someone we meet on a dating website doesn’t really seem like such a big leap.
Singles have a unique and unmatchable opportunity to chat and get to know one another and decide whether a real-life date is worth pursuing, just as one would in a real life situation. There’s probably more of an emphasis on taking things at a leisurely pace than there would be if you met and started chatting for the first time in a real life situation… So what have you got to lose?