On PlentyOfFish and Sense2Love, Finding True Love via :-) and DNA

Singletons out there looking for love have more and more good options every day. Ever since online dating started, new vistas have opened up for the lonely and the picky, once, that is, people started getting over the stigma.

Remember the days when online dating actually carried that stigma? I almost feel nostalgic.

I bring you news of a couple new ventures on the virtual dating scene. One that's been getting a lot of attention lately is called Plenty of Fish, which is most notable because it's free. Kind of like a MySpace for your dating life, the idea is that users can set up profiles and socially network their way into love. Users start by taking a "chemistry test" that measure five key factors, namely: self-confidence, family orientation, self-control, social dependency/openness and easygoingness. (Is easygoingness a word?)

Almost 10 million people have taken this test, which is a hint of how popular this site is — and how many fish really are in that sea.

In other dating news, people are now trying to short-circuit the agony of bad dates and the confusion of "the rules" by cutting straight to the genetics beneath it all. A site called Sense2Love will soon offer DNA testing that promises to match genetically compatible mates. The testing companies claim that lovebirds matched this way can expect better sex, more fidelity, enduring love and maybe even more robust offspring, reports the Boston Herald. GenePartner, a Swiss company that partners with matchmakers and online dating sites, has run more than 1,000 tests on willing subjects at $99 a pop, and will soon be providing these to Sense2Love.

It's a brave new dating world out there. Grab your emoticons and your cheek swabs and get down to it!

Photo courtesy of suchitra prints, via Flickr