This is the age of the people on the web; by the web; and for the web. The young and the old, the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, all converge on one platform where everyone is virtually equal. There is love, and there is hate. There are blogs and there are chat, there are search engines and then there are instant messengers too. Google and Yahoo have found new meaning in everyday parlance. In the middle of this, there is love blossoming some where, which is dependent on the diverse mediums available for it to grow. The love is often virtual, but sometimes turns into a reality for a few lucky ones.

Love and betrayal have always been bosom pals. The virtual medium of expressing love is no different. For every one relationship which transform from the realms of the virtual domain into a real one, there are countless ones which end in shattered hearts, missing aliases, and sometimes even empty wallets. On a number of occasions the result is actually physical; physical harm to the person involved. Broken bones and teeth, rapes ( virtual and real! ), blackmail. and the list goes on. Its frightening sometimes, just to think of the level to which some cranky character can fall to fulfill his/her desire. The process of proposing, dating and interacting however goes on. It is like the gold rush in the west. Every one goes on taking a chance with the hope of striking gold. Digging deeper, taking risks, investing time and effort and then there are a few lucky ones who actually find their true love.

Thus goes the story of online dating and love chat sites. But.behind the rosy hope of finding a partner whose thoughts matches yours, who could be the dream person you always desired, lies the ugly face of the process. False aliases, scam setups, blackmail, eavesdropping etc are very real dangers that exist in the big bad cyber world today. What is required is the awareness of the basic tenets of net and chatting etiquettes. The list is not exhaustive, and maybe no list can ever be, but they are the basic principles on which the relationship on the net can be made and developed. The list goes like this .

Never keep your personal name as your alias. Strict NO! Never reveal your personal identity to an unknown dater. You never know who the other person might be

Use personal chat rooms and try and frequent dating sites which provide you with this facility. Public dating gets mixed up real fast and it exponentially multiplies your chances of being caught off guard.

Never initiate a chat or date a person who has bad history on the net. If he has a bad history on the net and he is sticking to the identity, then he surely must have a reason for loving it. Psycho !

Control the speed of the relationship. If the guy or girl wants to meet you after the first few interactions on the net, your radars should sound an alarm. Meeting after a relationship on the net is like going for a night cap over to the real person's house after several real dates. Mark the equivalence and make the standards of relationship based on your choice and preference to graduate to the next level.

Always intimate a close physical partner about the existence of a net partner. Ideally, the physical partnership must always precede the virtual one to be on the safer side. When graduating to a physical meeting, be sure to intimate your best friend, or best take him/her along. It helps a lot and keeps you safe.

All rules for a safe physical date are applicable for a net date. Dress safe - don't upload your pictures the first time the guy wants to have a peek at you. Don't trust the person on the sweet talk he types. He/she might be the biggest rouge in town. A lot of cyber Romeos are not what they advertise.

Do a cross-check on the person with whom you are chatting by inviting your friend over as a casual onlooker. Try ways to get a three way talk going in order to check if the conversations are repeated. A simple and effective rule is that if an identity repeats the same tone of conversation and expresses love to you and your friend, beware!

Trust your instincts. The most fundamental principle for doing a check is to trust your instincts on a person. Too sweet or too salty, both are to be viewed with a skewed eye.

Online love is seductive and addictive. You open up your inner emotions watching the blinking cursor and then the trouble begins. Don't get into a situation from which the person on the other end the communication channel can take advantage of you. Don't let this virtual process overcome your emotions. Remember its VIRTUAL.

On an average, a good dating site will approximately host 20 new females and 30 new males per evening for a dater to chat to and develop a relationship. It means that you have around 50 new people to contact every evening. Here new means new. First or second timers. That also means there are 50 new carrots to be bitten by the more experienced and sometimes misguided daters looking for a newbie.

This was for all those newbies. Take your time, see the virtual place, observe the tenets of safety listed above and you will be safe in the business of online dating. Hopefully..