Tips

According to recent research, online dating is now the most popular way to meet prospective romantic partners. If you're considering joining a dating site but aren't sure what to do or what to expect, it's a good idea to proceed with both an open mind for meeting people and a little precaution.

Online dating safety is a concern, and the U.S. Attorney General's office has taken a stand to encourage people to exercise caution when searching for a relationship online because of the recent dating scams, especially when online daters misrepresent themselves in order to extract financial favors.

Zoosk, which markets itself as the number one dating app, has put together a few quick tips for online dating safety, so keep them in mind when you begin your own search:

Create an Alias - Create a new username and use a different email account from your main email when signing up for a dating site to protect your privacy.

Stay Online - Don't give out your personal cell phone number right away, especially if you are feeling pressured. Keep your messages and chats online through the dating site until you meet in-person.

Keep Personal Info Private - Do not share sensitive personal or financial information with someone whom you haven't met. This includes your last name, address, home or work phone numbers in addition to any financial information.

Go Out in Public - Always choose a public venue for your first few in-person dates, such as a restaurant or coffee shop. Never meet for the first time at your/their home, and don't arrange to have your date pick you up. Plan to meet each other at a restaurant or other public location instead.

Tell a Friend - Always let a friend or family member know who, when and where you're meeting for an in-person date with someone you met online.

Here are a few more things to keep in mind when you're online dating:

Meet sooner rather than later. Many problems for daters occur because they form a virtual relationship with their online match and become emotionally invested before they've seen each other face-to-face. Before you get intimate through emails and phone calls, plan to meet each other for coffee in person. Often, a scammer will try to avoid in-person meetings and keep things going online. If your date keeps making excuses for why he can't get together, then move on.

Keep drinking to a minimum. Some people like to have a glass of wine to loosen up on a date. Keep in mind your tolerance levels. If you get tipsy after a drink or two, you might want to consider not drinking at all. Don't make yourself vulnerable to your online dates, especially when you don't know them.

Online dating, mobile dating, matchmakers, speed dating, personal ads, social networks, meeting through friends and family, and that most traditional way of meeting your match: drunk in a bar. There are so many options available to singles dating in the digital age that it's getting hard to choose. And somehow, even with all those opportunities in front of us, so many people still have trouble connecting.

What gives? Is one method better than another? Is dating online better than dating offline? Is it the other way around? Experts can't seem to agree on the subject, and the reason is surprisingly simple: there is no one-size-fits-all formula. All of our personalities are different, and all of our relationship goals are different, which means there's no one right way for everyone. Every method has its merits and its faults - it's all about finding what works for you.

Here are some of the pros and cons in the Online Dating vs. Offline Dating battle:

Online Dating:

• Pro: Millions and millions of singles have given it a try, meaning your chances of being introduced to someone you click with are astronomically higher. You can meet people outside of your geographic area and social circle that you would likely never meet otherwise.
• Con: With all those people, it can be an exhausting experience. Many singles have felt drained by online dating.
• Pro: One out of five relationships now start online. With so many success stories, something is clearly working.
• Con: Yes, people lie about things like age, weight, height, income, and marital status. It can get frustrating after a few bad dates.
• Pro: It's available 24 hours a day, from the comfort of your home. And it's efficient - many sites will even help you find compatible matches using scientifically advanced algorithms.
• Con: It's easy to accidentally target your search criteria too much. If you're too specific about what you're looking for, you might miss an opportunity to meet a compatible match.

Offline Dating:

• Pro: You probably have a social network in common, which makes you feel more comfortable. It's encouraging to know your date has already been vetted by family or friends.
• Con: But by being limited to your social circles and regular activities, you will meet fewer people.
• Pro: You can determine if there's real chemistry much faster if you're meeting in person. It's harder to fake a spark when you're not behind a screen.
• Con: You might be too shy to go for it in the first place. Rejection seems a lot more real when you're face-to-face.
• Pro: You can decrease the pressure by dating in groups or going out on casual outings with friends. Less official = less scary.
• Con: It's harder to tell if someone is into you romantically - or into the idea of a relationship at all - if it's not clear that you're on a date in the first place.

Your best bet? Try a combination of both. At the end of the digital day, that special someone could be anywhere.

You know how speed dating works. An equal number of men and women attend an event. Each person spends a set period of time chatting to a prospective date, before half the guests rotate and everyone is introduced to a new potential partner. At the end of the night, each person indicates who they are interested in seeing again, and if there's a match, the organizers arrange an exchange of details.

But there's plenty you probably don't know about speed dating. Like the story of its origin: did you know that speed dating was invented by a Rabbi? Rabbi Yaacov Deyo, a Los Angeles resident and director Aish HaTorah (a Jewish Orthodox organization with a network of branches around the world), originally founded speed dating as a way to help Jewish singles meet and marry. In fact, SpeedDating, written as a single word, is a registered trademark of Aish HaTorah.

The first speed dating event took place at Peet's Café in Beverly Hills in late 1998, but it didn't take long for the idea to spread beyond Southern California. Within a year or so, the speed dating idea had gone viral and imitations had popped up around the country. It was a revolutionary way for busy singles to meet each other without the stigma associated with other kinds of dating agencies.

Although online dating is on the forefront of everyone's minds these days, it doesn't mean speed dating isn't worth a try. Science has a few interesting facts to keep in mind if you're looking to take the leap into speed dating:

1. First impressions really do count, and they happen fast. More than one study has concluded that most people make their choices within the first 30 seconds of meeting someone new.
2. Deeper issues, like religion, previous marriages, and smoking habits, were found to play a much smaller role than expected.
3. If you're looking to woo someone quickly, talk about your adventures abroad. Studies have found that dialogue concerning travel results in more matches than dialogue about films.
4. Don' judge a book by its cover, if you can help it. As is the case with online dating, what people say they want in an ideal mate when asked about it frequently does not match up with their subconscious preferences in practice.
5. Meeting in person has one serious leg-up on meeting online: your sense of smell. Scientific research has found that olfaction plays a major role in attraction, and that people wearing pheromones receive more matches. Try getting that through a computer screen.
6. Studies of speed dating events have generally shown more selectivity among women than among men, but more recent studies suggest that selectivity is based on which gender is seated and which is rotating. It may be that whoever is seated is more selective, regardless of sex.

Christian Mingle, a popular niche dating sites for religiously inclined singles, learned that one of its members was swindled out of a substantial amount of money from another user of the site.

A 66 year-old divorcee from Santa Fe revealed that she had been emailing with a man through the site who wooed her with flowers, text messages and phone calls. Pretending to be a U.K. citizen named David Holmes who was working on a Scottish oil rig, authorities discovered the suitor was actually Nigerian. According to authorities involved with the case, he did not seem to have a noticeable Nigerian accent.

The Santa Fe woman wired money to Holmes in increments at first totaling $300,000. She contacted authorities after she sent her last check for $200,000 to a Turkish bank account. A hold was placed on the check, and soon after a man named Wisdom Onokpite turned up to withdraw the funds. He was arrested, and authorities assumed they had caught the scammer, but it turned out he was only an associate sent to collect the money. The suspect calling himself David Holmes is still at large.

The woman claimed she had given more than half a million dollars to Holmes to invest in a fictitious oil rig. Authorities confirm they were able to get some of the money back, but not all of it.

Deputy District Attorney Cherie Bourland warned that people need to be more careful on international online dating sites, especially older daters who seem to be the target of a majority of fraud cases.

"You get the love drug in you and you end up getting duped," Bourland said.

As for daters on Christian Mingle and other online dating sites, it's good to use caution and common sense when interacting with strangers. Following are some tips to avoid being catfished yourself:

Don't share personal information. Don't give out your last name, home or work address, or any other personal information to someone on an online dating site. Remember that you don't know each other, and the person behind the profile could be lying.

Don't share financial information. This is especially important, because typically online daters who become victims of fraud do this after they have had some communication and built up a sense of trust. But if an online dater asks you for money, remember: always say no, even if your suitor is wooing you with phone calls, flowers, or messages of love. If you haven't met in person, be especially careful of declarations of love.

Meet in a public place. Never meet an online date at your home, always meet in a public place. You don't know this person or his intentions, so don't take unnecessary risks. Also, let a friend know where you are. Be safe and have fun!

Writing about yourself is never easy. At the best of times, it's an exercise in uncomfortable narcissism. At the worst times, it feels like a soul-crushing failure that may require you to rethink your entire identity. Those of us who are still in the earlier years of our (hopefully) long lives have an advantage: we grew up with the Internet, and social networking sites grew up with us, which means we've always had a sixth sense for presenting ourselves online.

But what about those for whom technology isn't second nature? What about the 40-somethings, 50-somethings, 60-somethings, and beyond, who don't have a clue what a hashtag is or what that funny little thumbs-up symbol does? Enter It's A Date!, Deborah Sloan's service that offers "online profile help for grownups."

It's A Date! helps single, divorced, and widowed daters over the age of 40 learn how to stand out from the crowd. Of course, not every mature single has difficulty navigating online dating, but for those who are less tech-savvy, professional writers and interviewers can make all the difference.

In a recent interview, Sloan had plenty advice to give about putting your best foot forward on the Internet:

When you're dating online, someone who sounds great on paper can turn out to be a total flop in person. How can online daters solve that problem?

• It's almost impossible to predict what another person will do, so it's up to you to lay the most solid foundation possible. "Your online profile will help you attract other people," Sloan advises, "so you should take it as seriously as anything else you'd prepare for, like a job interview." The more thoughtful your profile, more thoughtful the people it's likely to attract. And the better targeted it is, the better chance it has of attracting the kind of person you're actually interested in.

What's the number one profile killer?

• "Talking too much about past relationships," says Sloan. "Yes, you want to mention you've been in a relationship to show you're capable of having another one, but don't talk in detail about exes or previous lovers." The same goes for dates. Other potentially uncomfortable topics include children and finances.

Why should someone give online dating a try?

• There are plenty of reasons to give online dating it go. It's an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a chance to meet people you know are also looking to date, unlike meeting people in bars or clubs. It's a great tool for singles who are shy about approaching people in real life. And most of all, it works.

If you're looking to join an online dating site, the first two weeks after Christmas are the best time to do it. At least according to Zoosk, the dating website which typically sees a 26% increase in sign-ups during that time. According to Match.com, the busiest time of year for dating is between Christmas and February 14th.

So once you sign up for an online dating site, how do you attract the attention of other members?

Because of the expected rush of new sign-ups, Zoosk also put together data combed from over 4,000 members of the site to see what kind of profiles and pictures get the most responses. Why not make the most of your online dating experience this New Year?

Here are a few facts Zoosk shared to help you get a little more attention and increase your response rate:

Use a full-body picture. While you might feel a little self-conscious, users who post full body photos (both for males and females) typically receive three times as many messages as the average dater, and 33% more responses to their messages. It's not about looking perfect - it's showing who you are and that you have nothing to hide.

It's not all about work. People who talk about their hobbies in their online dating profiles fare better than those who don't. Exercise is always a winner. If you mention jogging, running, lifting weights or yoga, you get 21% more messages. If you say book, read or write, you also get 21% more messages. And if you mention music, guitar, or singing? You'll notice a 15% increase in your messages.

Be positive. Using words like "alone" won't help you in your online dating quest - in fact, you'll see 24% fewer messages. However, if you use words like creative, ambitious, laugh or healthy, you'll see a definite boost of 33% more messages.

Don't include pets or friends in your photos. Online daters want to know who they are dating - and if you pose with others in the picture, it takes the focus off of you. Zoosk found that having more than one person in your photo resulted in 42% fewer messages. Not only that - including pets isn't such a great idea either, even if you are looking for a pet-friendly date. Zoosk found that those who posed with animals received a whopping 53% fewer messages.

Selfies are gender-biased. If you're a guy and you want to take a selfie in the bathroom mirror, think again. You'll receive 8% fewer messages with selfie photos than your female counterparts - who receive a 4% uptick in messages with their selfies.

Happy dating!