Niche Dating Online: Something for Everyone

As of late, we are seeing more and more "niche" online dating sites. Some of the big box dating sites allow you to search for specific qualities that are listed on member profiles, but the sites I am referring to have only one criteria that is mandatory for someone to join.

I have to say, I was both amazed and scared by some of them. Here is a list of the top 20 "niche" sites descriptions that I found:

1."stache's (mustaches)
2. sexually transmitted diseases
3. feet fetishes
4. farmers
5. diaper mates
6. vegans
7. geeks
8. trekkies
9. gene matching based on a saliva test
10. people with mental illnesses
11. tall people looking for short people
12. 420 (pot smokers)
13. men and women behind bars
14. vampires
15. people that dress up like animals in fur suits
16. self-proclaimed uglies
17. datecraft for gamers
18. scifi-match for people too intelligent to have relationships with the rest of us
19. a site just for dwarfs
and finally:
20. terminally ill people

For those of you that this piqued your interest, simply searching for the phrase or word will bring you to the source and I wish you nothing but the best in finding "the one." Please let me encourage you to add another value to your equation to get a more rounded person to share your life with.

I personally didn't take a "stroll" through any of these sites. Will admit that I did not want my IP address anywhere near them. Does that make me a prude? I hope not. I consider myself an open-minded person but find that my list of desires in a mate to be very boring after compiling this list.

What I do look for in an online dating site is more about what does the site bring to me in a social way. If you are tired of the big box "meat counter" sites, I suggest you look for a site that offers more values to the membership, like being able to load music and videos (make a video profile of yourself..way better than listing qualities), a blog to share what interestes you or drives your life, groups to plug into online and at local meetings and open forums to keep a conversation going.

Online dating is here to stay. With more and more people sharing that they met someone online, we feel a little safer dipping our toes in the water. But let me caution: Trust your instincts, pay attention and when those little hairs on the back of your neck stand up, run as quickly as you can in the opposite direction.