It is a sad world where people find it difficult to even meet in person that they have to go on dating sites. There are dating sites and match makers all over the internet. Each providing some form of stickiness. However, they all want the person to subscribe in some way or another. It is even worse when someone has to pay a subscription to meet people online. It is also not the safest option. Internet is one place where free speech and opportunities abound. However, there are also people out to exploit others. There has to be a better approach to people connecting with like minded individuals. Meetup is perhaps an even better approach. At least, the process gets people connected at a very contextually specific level and transforms it into a personable group activity. But, it is still in essence a very disconnected social experience. Perhaps, a better alternative might be to use semantic web with all its metadata and build a linked data of communities. Similar to linked data of discussions. The social web has endless possibilities. People can even build their connections via mobile phone and even connect in real-time using bluetooth while they are out and about. One will never know another by just meeting them online. It has to be an in person encounter. Dating sites have never really been all that popular either on the web compared to social networking sites like facebook and twitter. There is also a real need here towards a more semantically connected identity allowing people to be more mobile but at same time safe from fraud. Dating sites can also be a very shallow place to meet people in similar respects to facebook. Perhaps, this can be equated to a major drawback of capitalist society. People tend to become more individual in their mind set. But, at same time there are many that end up living a very separate existence. This is typical of big city living where people may appear cold towards others and more vigilant of their surroundings. Dating sites also appear to be more popular by people living in rural areas rather than urban. This is in many ways an indication of how people living in different parts of the world feel drawn and connected to the opposite lifestyles out of curiosity. People also live busier lives compared to the way people lived and worked decades ago. But, there has always been a need in people to share their existence with someone else. Surely, dating sites cannot be the answer if bars and clubs are so popular in a city. Perhaps, lack of services, busy family lives, and boredom in the local communities draws individuals on to such sites. But, building another disconnected site is not the answer any more to a social web.
