The dating agency is not a recent phenomenon, they have been around in one form or another for centuries. People have always needed to meet potential partners to produce families and offspring and every civilization and society has made that possible in one form or another. In our modern society as more and more of us have chosen the single path we find that the old systems of dating are no longer adequate. Family life is not as close for many, parents and families often not living in the same city. Therefore the reliance on family gatherings for introductions is much rarer. A couple of generations ago we may have met people through our local friends and families too, but as we grow older many of our friends get married and lives become distanced and separated and unfortunately our local communities are not as close as in previous decades, leaving us more reliant on using introduction services. These days we are not so close to our neighbours who can be as much a stranger as the man in the street. Combine this with long working hours, stressful careers, busy diaries and the need for rest and recuperation and there are far fewer outlets for the dating agency than before. Indeed many would argue that the modern dating agency is in fact the workplace first and foremost with the after work bar a close second. The cost of the traditional dating agency is far from cheap and you are paying for the time of a person to try and match you. A matchmaking agency is selective and are careful as to who they place on their books however it can be a soul less business with no guarantees of success. There can be no guarantees with introduction services of any kind because love is not a guaranteed commodity. The Internet has come into its own in the last 5 years with the advent of professional dating agencies available online 24 hours a day. Along with the introduction services also come the cash-in merchants who know nothing about the dating industry and they are generally to be avoided. Most online dating agencies function at the same as the lowest levels in that you can join for free and add a profile which is basically an electronic form of some of your details and a photograph. Potential suitors will then match with you, or you with them at your leisure and communicate via email. The free sites are okay to begin with if you simply wish to test the water go straight to a professional dating agency as they are always free to join. Register for free and look for a site that includes detailed profiling and multiple photos for no cost. The problem with completely free sites is that you can never be sure that the people in the database are serious about dating. A full membership will reserve communication between members for those who pay. That way you can be sure you are dealing with serious daters only. An Internet dating agency that charges will usually be very secure with serious daters, and a proper ecommerce system. Always select a dating agency that never re-bills your credit card so that you can pick and choose when you want to communicate and avoid sites that penalize you for blocking people you don't wish to chat with. Some websites will cancel your membership if you block too many which is something that is totally wrong for safety reasons. The top agencies will include instant messaging, private email and chat rooms as well as voicemail if possible. The benefits of Internet dating are clearly obvious. It is distance dating so your safety is assured. You can pick and choose when and who you want to chat with. You can remove yourself from the database at any time and the cost is very small in proportion to any other kind of dating. You may browse photos, leave messages and filter those you don't like. That way you can narrow down the possible suitors to those who you really stand a chance of matching with when you meet. From the personal ads in a local magazine to dating online, all forms of modern dating are viable in our singles generation and I recommend that you look at all the alternatives on offer. There is no longer any stigma with using dating agencies and I feel that they are extremely valid in our campaign to find our ideal mate.