I was one of the usual suspects rounded up for a BusinessWeek piece on Internet Dating's seeming decline.

Olga Kharif

[[from Online Dating Faces Rejection]

Social-networking sites, such as Friendster.com and FriendFinder.com, add to the competition. Already, both score higher on Alexa traffic tracker than traditional dating sites. Unlike the latter group's usual catalog of profiles, social-networking sites allow for more personal interaction. For instance, users of FriendFinder.com gather in chat rooms to exchange dating advice or play games. And Friendster.com allows users to talk, through voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology, via their PCs.

"When you deal with real people and not a catalog of profiles, you can't just walk away," says Stowe Boyd, president of tech researcher Corante Research in Reston, Va. "It's like breaking out of your social circle."

Ultimately, Internet dating sites will be socialized thtough the admixture of social software, and people will meet through real activities -- like politics, music, art, or other shared interests. Sites like MySpace and Suicide Girls are winning examples of how self-definition around some passion (like music or the counterculture) naturally engenders dating, while most dating sites have the same "empty hall" feeling that I've ranted about regarding social networking mazes like Orkut or Friendster. Minus the supposed alchemy of algorithmic matchmaking, most dating sites feel like one of those Eastern European wife-picking vacation packages, and just about as intellectually appealing.