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As with other countries, online dating and social networking has become popular in Japan. What is different in Japan is people still have a fixation with anonymity. As example, on average, the Japanese much rather upload video and pictures of their pets to YouTube, than media where they are the star. YouTube even:

has tried to convince the Japanese to loosen up, running events in Tokyo in which girls in miniskirts roam the streets with giant picture frames and video cameras, soliciting pedestrians to frame themselves and record a clip for the site.

In the end this campaign didn't work and, YouTube has since switch to promoting of uploading images of pets.

Match.com has been operating in Japan since 2004. They have added a number of different features to tailor the dating experience so it will suit their Japanese members (see story). These features include identity certification, income verification and blood type. Match.com's Japan president, Katsu Kuwano has stated:

When we did research on Japanese consumers, we found that the No. 1 reason for not using online dating is that they don't know if people are real or not.

Most of Match.com's advertising in Japan is geared towards Japanese women with marriage in mind. Match.com has timed the larger campaigns during national holidays. Still, only about 40% of woman who pay for a membership on Match.com post a picture of themselves. Just like in North America, men in Japan are much less likely to initiate communication with these profiles without pictures. Match.com feels their best bet for generating more members is to be identified with the konkatsu movement in which singles actively seek out marriage, instead of relying on their parents to find a partner.

For the full story visit the The Sydney Morning Herald.

To find out more about Match.com, please read our review.

Young people (and some older ones as well) need to remember that whatever you post on the internet will then be available forever. It doesn't matter if it is a text message, a picture or a video, it most likely will be replicated on other websites. Sites like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook are extremely popular and some postings on these sites have ended up haunting people. More and more, employers, police and institutions are using these sites to see how people they are interested in, are behaving. A few court cases have even used pictures from these social networking sites as evidence in criminal court. You of course also have to watch out for your camera happy friends who like to post pictures on the internet. You may not have posted it but sites like Facebook still let you link pictures of people with their member accounts.

Just remember posting a picture of yourself doing something funny may seem like a great idea now but, will it still be funny in 5 or 10 years when you are trying to get hired for an important job?

For more insight on your privacy and internet posting, plus examples of legal cases where pictures from the internet are used, check out Canada.com.

An article called You and improved takes a look at a few of the photo retouching services that are available on the internet. Since the rise of social networking sites this type of business has become a lot more popular. Now it is not only dating site members using the service but people from Facebook, Flicker and MySpace as well.

A few services like Look Better Online offer the full package which includes a photographer, a studio (with proper lighting, etc..), and photo touch ups if needed. Most of the photo touch up services just take your pre-existing pictures which you have uploaded to their website. Retouching can include simple things like fixing the lighting of the photo, removing red eye and whitening your teeth. More advance retouching services allow for the removal of acne, moles and reducing your wrinkles. Some services even go a step further and offer to slim the person in the photo as well. This can include everything from your arms and legs to your waist. I also notice on one site I found, you can go the other way in which men can get a more muscular physic and woman can have larger breasts.

In a world where almost every commercial photo printed now has been retouched, does these type of services have a place in online dating? Like profile writing services, for the most part I think they do. Some people just don't take good pictures (I am one of them!) and going to a professional can help. The photographer can find your best angle and enhance your features with the proper lighting and background. For those of you who already have a decent picture with just a few problems you don't know how to fix then these retouching services are a great option. Small touch ups like red eye, acne removal, lighting and color usually start around the $5 mark. With regards to online dating I think this is where most people should stop. Getting your photo "Slimmed" may help you get more responses but in the end you are not being truthful in which on your first date your partner will discover. The way you look shouldn't matter, but for a lot of people it does.