For students, dating can sometimes pose a challenge just as persistent as academic and employment pursuits.
Here at Brandeis, students often complain about a lack of romantic prospects. Online dating, though, can broaden options and present a new resource for engaging in the adventures of romance.
Zoe, a Brandeis senior whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, is one such person. She began using JDate, a Jewish-oriented online dating service, last summer as a way to occupy time and to expand her base of friends outside of school.
"My cousins suggested it because this summer I was bored at home; much of my home friend base has fizzled out through my years away from there, so I thought I'd try it,"Zoe said. "My experience has been pretty neutral-I get instant messages now and then from different users."
Although plenty of couples still follow the traditional route, meeting over the Internet is becoming increasingly prevalent, especially among college students.Students connecting
Founded to match Jewish singles through their late thirties, JDate has been very successful.
A plethora of other services exist. Based on interests, one can choose from Web sites such as Love.com, Funfunfun.org and MIT Match-Up, to name a few.
Jon Mon, creator of MIT Match-Up, founded the service two years ago in an effort to connect students from the top universities in the greater Boston area. According to Mon, the site has 2,300 members who post profiles and send anonymous e-mails.
"Because it is not expensive and because students are more likely to sign up if it is a closed community, I think they feel safer and maybe they could meet more intelligent people,"Mon said.
Users complete a survey about their dating preferences and, if they desire, can post three photos and a brief essay. Instructions on the site say these are good ways to attract attention.
A quick search reveals that 38 Brandeis students are currently members of Match-up.
According to one Brandeisian on MIT Match-Up with the alias "sexymachine6969,"finding long-term meaningful relationships is often not a primary goal when choosing one of these services.
"Honestly, I did this as a joke,"she said. "My friend's friend at Wellesley replied through the MIT Match-Up, but she did it only as a joke. Really, I hoped to get some immediate satisfaction in the joke."
Zoe agreed with this statement, though she said it couldn't hurt to find someone to date along the way. "It would be nice to get a date or two but if not, that's cool,"she said. "I have forwarded guys' profiles to friends because on the computer, I think it seems that they'd make a good match for each other."
After creating their Match-Up profiles for free, users can search the database for a connection based on criteria such as gender, interests, schooland desired type of relationship.
Another popular site is Funfunfun.org, which sets up free events such as hiking and dancing dates for potential couples.
According to Chris, who founded the service in 1997, Funfunfun.org is probably the oldest Web site of its kind and unique in that it focuses more toward in-person contact rather than talking online.
"People need to meet face to face,"Chris said. "Our club members aren't online in the evening, they are out dining, dancing, hiking and rafting. They are doing activities with other singles, meeting them face to face, not computer image to computer image."
Another unique feature of Funfunfun.org is its wide scope of ages and types of programs.
"We attract an audience of 21 to 59,"Chris said. "[The site] is very successful because we've had 30 people marry and countless couples dating. Since non-singles cannot participate, we had to create another part of the activities club for the no-longer-singles to enjoy fun events."
Engines such as Love.com and Nerve.com are also geared toward a broader audience. Users must pay a certain fee for each e-mail sent. Furthermore, instead of merely sending e-mails to eachother, Love.com gives singles the option of chatting through AOL Instant Messenger because of its informal setting.
According to a press release forwarded by Erin Gifford, America Online's corporate communications manager, "The Love.com service fully integrates online presence and real time communications, giving those looking for someone special the ability to browse through user profiles, see who's online and quickly communicate with others via instant messages directly from the Love.com site."
Nerve.com differs from Love.com in that its theme is more "adventurous"and, as its name may suggest, focuses on sexually-driven dating. It works in conjunction with a site called SpringStreetNetworks.com, which advertises personals in the broader publication entitled "Nerve.com."The site contains a featured sexual position of the day and sexual advice columns.
The administrator of SpringStreetNetworks.com was unable to be reached for comment.
Another increasingly popular site is Friendster.com, where one meets people by connecting through a network of friends that he or she creates online. Registration is free, though the user must create a database by inputting email addresses of his or her friends. This creates an even more intimate online community.
Greg Galel '07 described a site called feujworld, at www.feujworld.com, a free service for Jews in Belgium. It is "geared at every age,"he said, from 15 to 50.
"My experience has been nothing special ... not so interested in blind dates,"Galel said. Still, he said he thinks most Belgian Jews belong to feujworld.

Technology's impact
Though real, live dating has not been discarded, as seen from such sites as Funfunfun.org, online dating is becoming progressively prevalent.
The issue of stalking and privacy invasion arises here, though none of the people interviewed for this article mentioned its relevance. Perhaps this comes in part because of the seemingly private setting every site attempts to create either by gearing the site to certain groups or charging fees.
MIT Match-Up, for example, can only be accessed by students of MIT, Brandeis, BU, Harvard, Tufts, BC, or Wellesley. Students must give a university email address to prove this identity. In this sense, Match-Up is a somewhat closed online community.
"Because students are so busy with schoolwork and other things, MIT Match-Up helps students and alumni meet people,"Mon said. "Online dating shouldn't be the only way to meet someone, though it can be a good addition."
The user "sexymachine6969"agreed with this comment, adding that the academic setting is not the only one too busy for finding a potential date. She said that the Internet makes communication more convenient for everyone.
Zoe agreed with this, adding that just because something is done over the Internet rather than in person, while not being very personal, is very effective for those who enjoy it.
"I don't think it's too intrusive,"Zoe said. "[It's] just a little awkward. I think that having serious conversations online is a bit overdramatic and stupid, but I also understand that a lot of people have connected over the Internet, so I respect it."
While the examples here are a small fraction of many online daters in our technologically-oriented world, they have expressed simple fun from registering for one of these services.
School is stressful. So is dating. Enter online dating, which allows awelcome break from writing papers and a more relaxed and entertaining way to survey the options, even if just for fun.