Dating online: The good, the bad, and the UGLY!

Like it or not online dating has taking over the dating world in a BIG way. Some of us know the lucky success stories while even more of us know of the horror stories. We are going to take a moment to look at it from all angles.
The Good:
This was harder to find then I had thought. Do not get me wrong most of the DOT.coms have a Love Story section featuring couples and their story. HOWEVER I wanted to find a REAL couple! So I set out on the task and began to dig. Finally after about 5 hours online I came across Anna and Michael. They met through a popular online dating resource. Their story started with a few weeks of emails and picture swapping. She was attracted to his sense of humor and he was reeled in with her compassion. A few weeks later they swapped phone numbers. Long story short a few months later he asked her to marry him. Aside from the slight chance they are paid to give this info it seems legit. But they did not blindly rush into it. They took there time getting to know one another online first. I think that they were able to establish a small form of trust that blossomed into a great rewarding love. I personally know a few couples that met online through social forums but not dating sights.
Then again I work for a dating service so no one comes to me with their online success.
The Bad:
I think “The Bad” is painfully obvious. The cyber world is full of lairs, scammers, and cheaters. “OH MY!” It gives them a play ground they only dreamed of a mere 20 years ago. I am really take a moment and think about it. On line we are technically nameless, faceless, and untraceable to the general public. Giving each person good or bad to create themselves in any manor they choose. Sure a lot of normal people choose to merely improve the image people see. Telling little white lies. Taking off 10 or 15 pounds on our weight or adding an inch or two of height hoping when people meet us it won’t matter. But then there are people who create an entirely fake identity. Thanks to sites allowing users to upload a massive amount of photos and giving the user access to everyone else’s photos. Many of the pictures we see are not even the people we are talking to. Then there are tech savvy folks with access to programs like photo shop that allow them to alter their flaws from a picture or put them in the background of a place they have never been. Given that there is a ZERO verification system all one person would need to lie to you is a VALID credit card number. Thanks to the gift card industry any one can have a visa! Heck you can go buy your re-loadable visa debit card at any super market or pharmacy. Yet tens of thousands of good honest hard working people dump millions of dollars a year into exposing themselves to these seedy scammers.
The Ugly:
There are a massive amount of potential reasons way online dating is bad. But there is a much darker side. There are thousands of people that have met ill willed fates at your local dating dot.com. The reports are missed by your local broadcaster because many of these crimes are not obviously linked with online dating sites till much later and by then Charlie on the 10p.m. news is covering the latest string of criminal activity. There are thousands of active restraining orders against people that victimized someone online. A list of crimes that can be linked to online dating: Identity Theft, Stalking, Rape, Murder, Robbery, and the list goes on and on. Either way you look at it how safe is it inviting someone from the computer into your life. You know only what they tell you. Its not like you have mutual friends? Then what? Who would you call if your date from the night before robbed you? Would dating dot.com remove their profile? Or maybe just block you from viewing it? Who knows?
Seems to me that your options are risk the bad or avoid it. Sometimes you have to follow your heart but please use your head. If you do meet people online be smart. Take your time really get to know someone and if things seem to not add up avoid that person! Think smart not hard!