Online Dating Goes to Twitter

If you were lucky enough to be in Canada mid-month, you might have shimmied off to attend one of the first-ever Flitter events - an online/offline approach to dating that integrates Twitter and a mixer event.

Just prior to Valentine's Day, residents of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver who were single and looking came together at on of these Flitter events, created by Justin Parfitt. He's the CEO and founder of Canadian-based dating service Fastlife and was intrigued with the possibility of mixing technology and real-life interaction with groups of people. The events were initially introduced through Fastlife to the Australian singles community and are now off and running in Canada.

If you happened to be a single, Canadian Twitter user and were open to something new, this might have been just the thing for a lonely digital heart!

Event participants signed each tweet for the evening with the term "flitterme," which then generated a search stream that was displayed on a large screen in the room. Everyone was given a name tag number on the way in and people could choose to either sign their tweets with their number or remain anonymous.

Events organized over Twitter that lead to in-person interaction are nothing new. "Tweetups" are hosting in many cities across the United States, bringing together people who digitally know one another and adding the "real life" factor into the equation. It seems that this is yet another niche when it comes to the online dating scene, allowing single Twitter fans to flirt, learn and explore in an accepting setting with a group of other singles who enjoy the same technology they do. Common interests are a well-known key to successful relationships - perhaps Twitter is the common ground of the future? Grab your Blackberry or iPhone and find out! Nothing makes you smile like a little online flirting.

You can read the original article published by Reuters here.