Jane Saeman asked:


Many people on the dating scene today aren’t there to find “the one” person that they want to settle down with for the rest of their lives. Dating is now a standardized term used for social networking. Although the word implies that those who embark on a dating experience are doing so with romance in mind, the reality is that for most people who date people who have similar interests to their own are more likely to meet again socially with nothing more than a friendship in mind.

While this isn’t so good for anyone who is looking for romance with a view to a long-term monogamous relationship, it’s a positive change to the way that dating has been perceived in the past. At one time there was a lot of anxiety placed on anyone preparing for ‘a date’. They wanted to make a perfect first impression because they wanted their date to like them. They were looking for romance and hoped to find it.

In today’s dating scene, there may well be an underlying hope that one day the romance button may be clicked when meeting someone in a dating situation, but generally expectations are lower with most people looking to just enjoy themselves with someone that they think they have enough sufficient interests in common with to relax and have a little fun. This takes the pressure off the date and allows true personalities to shine rather than ones that are edged with a “best behavior” hang-up!

Western culture in particular is increasingly moving towards a trend of increased work ethic where single people, especially those following a career path, have little time for a serious relationship. The more informal dating rules allow people who are working towards their professional goals a release to get out socially (although some choose their dates selectively in order to use this as a networking opportunity as well as a social one!) and meet with people outside of their professional environment.
There are also an increasing number of people on the dating scene who have been seriously hurt in a previous relationship. They also are looking to connect with others, but they aren’t necessarily ready to entrust their feelings to anyone else at this time. Retired people who have lost their life partner are also among those who are initially looking for friendship rather than romance from a dating experience.

This doesn’t mean however that informal dating doesn’t lead to romance. There’s many a relationship that has started out as one thing and ended as something else. Any long-lasting permanent relationship needs a number of foundation stones that will hold it together during difficult times and one of these is friendship.

If you can find someone whom you like, and trust as a friend, and this relationship grows into a romantic one, then this relationship has a much stronger chance of surviving the long-haul than one that starts with a romantic spark which then fizzles out because there’s nothing else holding it together.

Ray Shane asked:


There are many lonely hearts out there in this world who are searching for life partners or looking for romantic relationships, but their busy lifestyles don’t permit them the time that is needed to find out and search for such partners and nurture a relationship with them. It is for people like these that the numerous internet dating sites, speed dating sites, romantic dating sites, friendship site and local dating sites have blossomed all over the internet and are doing great business.

All that you need to do is to sign up for a make new friends or romantic dating or speed dating site and create an interesting, peppy and charming profile with numerous attractive photographs of yours. Through these sites, you will get to date many members of the opposite *** and if luck favours, you may find your Mr. Right or Ms. Right.

But the problem with these people who sign up for romantic dating sites or internet dating sites is that they sometimes get so desperate to hook up that they end up making a complete fool of themselves in front of their dates. When you are single and don’t have anyone in your life with whom you want to share everything, you definitely feel unhappy and left out, especially when you see your friends hitched and happy. But don’t let your desperation overpower you.

You have to learn how to take the dating game seriously without showing the seriousness. And you can never become free and easy with the opposite *** unless you become friends with your date first.

Often it has been noticed that people who chat garrulously over the internet dating sites become quite tongue tied and ill at ease, when they actually meet their date in public. This is normal. To tide over this shyness, the best thing is to become friends with your date and treat him/her normally, but with respect as you would do your friend. This will help to break the ice and get the conversation going.

Ideally, even during the online dating period, you should mix with the opposite *** in a friendly manner and share positive vibes with that person. By mixing freely and easily, both of you will get to know each other better and will be able to share your views and opinions. This will help you to judge the other person better and know him/her and very soon you will be able to judge whether your date is perfect as your life partner or not.

And then you can go out with her/him. This is the reason why making friends first before dating someone is a more feasible and clever idea. The unique dating site FriendsorMates.com will be able to help you better in this regard with their huge pool of informative articles.

Jane Saeman asked:


Friends are not easy to find once you into a working environment. If you have childhood friends around that’s great, but many people move far away from where they grew up, and contact with those they used to confide in becomes increasingly difficult. Finding the time to meet new people, and then spend enough time to get to a level where you trust them enough to confide in isn’t easy, especially if you’re also looking for a partner and using your free time to date.

If you are someone who feels more comfortable with the opposite sex, then dating is a great way of making friends. There are very few people who date only one person and then commit to them for the rest of their lives. The usual scenario is that you date a number of people who have quite a lot of things in common with you, until you find the one that you really connect with on a deeper level. The fact that you have been on a personal, if not intimate, level with the people you date puts you in a good position to transition these once potential dates into friendships.

There’s a problem with this in that any future people you, or your ex date, go out with may not like the relationship and try to break it. This makes the friendship a little precarious, but as time passes, the bond of friendship and trust becomes one that both of you will be reluctant to break — both of you appreciating what you get from the platonic relationship — and so it becomes more secure. Even so, if you, or your friend, find a partner that they intend to make a permanent fixture in their lives your friendship together may have to be severed in order for that to happen.

Even if you’re not really interested in having a deeper relationship with someone, there’s nothing to stop you going out on casual dates. There are plenty of other people out there who enjoy having one-on-one time with another person without it having to lead to a “serious relationship”. You may get a reputation for being a habitual dater, but that’s just a label that someone who dates looking for a partner puts on it. There’s nothing wrong in using the dating scene as a social meeting arena! Make your intentions known up front and you’ll get to meet a number of people who have similar interests to your own, but aren’t going to expect anything other than friendship in return for the time spent together.

If a serious relationship isn’t what you’re looking for, but you would like to find a few more friends, trying some casual dating and you’ll meet some interesting people. You aren’t guaranteed to build a true friendship with any or all of them, but at the very least, you’ll have a good time exploring the possibility!