Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  Here be Matches : A journey through Never Never Land (03 Sep 2004) In the beginning, looking for love online felt a little like entering Peter Pan's Never Never Land, where dreams are born and time is unplanned. Tapping the keyboard lightly, my fingertips brought a seemingly endless number of tall, dark, smiling knights to the brim of my screen. Here were my matches: compatible males of all shapes, sizes and colors. At first sight, utopia came to mind, but online daters quickly realize that this is where their searches begin, not end. Creative slogans for online dating systems promise to help you find your "perfect match", "someone special", or, if you're a smidgen eccentric, perhaps "that parakeet-owning psychiatrist you've been looking for." Until recently, the search function itself has been the most fundamental feature in dating services, enabling you to sift through large databases of potential candidates. Searching criteria range from variables such as height, weight, education, income, eye color and race. Inevitably, this feels a little like putting together a custom order, causing some to let out a sarcastic guffaw and ask: "Is love all based on looks and features?" "A watched kettle won't boil," was my grandmother's favorite word of advice. As we grow up, many of us are taught to adopt a passive approach to what may arguably be the most important decision we make in our lives. We learn that love happens mostly when you least expect it, naturally and all by itself. Love cannot be forced: it is unconditional and unpredictable. You're not supposed to ask for it, and certainly not go looking for it in the indexes of cold, inhuman online databases. As is always the case with new tools or new media, it is not long before critics have their say. Online dating is too lighthearted, too much of a meat market, too dangerous and too deceptive, say those who know better. What tool can be more deceptive than the computer? It has the power to make you appear as attractive as you wish. Since this is true for you, how are you to know if your matches are truthful in their descriptions of themselves? Article URL: http://tekka.net/06/?Matches Read 60 more articles from Tekka sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: Karaoke Revolution     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy