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More singles are searching for love online, say experts here.
A survey last year by local dating agency Lunch Actually shows that 62 per cent of Singaporeans polled used an online dating service, up from 58 per cent in 2010.
The survey had 640 local responses, in addition to others from Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Online dating involves uploading information and pictures on a portal where users are matched or meet via chats or online games.
Last week, a romance between 24-year-old Miss Elsie Lie and her boyfriend hit the headlines when the former was brutally murdered in her Jurong West home.
Her 38-year-old boyfriend has been charged with murder.
While it is unclear how the two met, Miss Lie was a member of some 10 different networking sites, where she stated that she was "still single" and hoping to meet new friends.
The rise in online dating is not surprising, considering how much time people spend on social networking sites, says sociologist Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan.
"Technology is replacing the role of the older generation, who traditionally picked out partners for the younger generation," says the assistant professor at Singapore Management University.
Online dating's stigma - that those who use dating websites are desperate and can't find partners in real life - is disappearing as more engage online, she says.
In a global poll of 10,976 users across 19 countries carried out by the BBC World Service in 2010, 30 per cent of web users regard the Internet as a good place to find a romantic partner.
Ms Violet Lim, who founded local dating portals Eteract and eSynchrony in 2007 and 2010 respectively, says people log on for different reasons.
She says: "Some might have found little success in traditional dating methods, such as through work and friends."
Those with active social lives see it as another chance to widen their social circle, she adds.
Ms Lim's sites, two of innumerable online dating options available to Singaporeans, now have 80,000 and 15,000 users respectively.
Eteract offers speed dating via instant messaging, webcam, and online games.
ESynchrony, on the other hand, matches people through a personality profile quiz.
Users' ages range between 21 and 45 years and they pay anything from $24 to $600, depending on the services signed up for.
There are tricks to getting noticed online.
For example, an attractive picture is key.
"If a girl posts a good photo of herself, chances are she would be approached quickly," says Ms Lim, adding that men make up 60 per cent of her websites' membership.
An interesting profile also helps increase your chances.
"If the profile comes across as boring, the likelihood of getting responses is also lower,"she says.
Occasionally, online matches do end up in marriages.
Local dating site, Who Works Around You, was founded in 2007 and has about 5,000 users.
Its founder, Ms Betty Goh, says she receives about two wedding invitations a year from online matches.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
A survey last year by local dating agency Lunch Actually shows that 62 per cent of Singaporeans polled used an online dating service, up from 58 per cent in 2010.
The survey had 640 local responses, in addition to others from Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Online dating involves uploading information and pictures on a portal where users are matched or meet via chats or online games.
Last week, a romance between 24-year-old Miss Elsie Lie and her boyfriend hit the headlines when the former was brutally murdered in her Jurong West home.
Her 38-year-old boyfriend has been charged with murder.
While it is unclear how the two met, Miss Lie was a member of some 10 different networking sites, where she stated that she was "still single" and hoping to meet new friends.
The rise in online dating is not surprising, considering how much time people spend on social networking sites, says sociologist Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan.
"Technology is replacing the role of the older generation, who traditionally picked out partners for the younger generation," says the assistant professor at Singapore Management University.
Online dating's stigma - that those who use dating websites are desperate and can't find partners in real life - is disappearing as more engage online, she says.
In a global poll of 10,976 users across 19 countries carried out by the BBC World Service in 2010, 30 per cent of web users regard the Internet as a good place to find a romantic partner.
Ms Violet Lim, who founded local dating portals Eteract and eSynchrony in 2007 and 2010 respectively, says people log on for different reasons.
She says: "Some might have found little success in traditional dating methods, such as through work and friends."
Those with active social lives see it as another chance to widen their social circle, she adds.
Ms Lim's sites, two of innumerable online dating options available to Singaporeans, now have 80,000 and 15,000 users respectively.
Eteract offers speed dating via instant messaging, webcam, and online games.
ESynchrony, on the other hand, matches people through a personality profile quiz.
Users' ages range between 21 and 45 years and they pay anything from $24 to $600, depending on the services signed up for.
There are tricks to getting noticed online.
For example, an attractive picture is key.
"If a girl posts a good photo of herself, chances are she would be approached quickly," says Ms Lim, adding that men make up 60 per cent of her websites' membership.
An interesting profile also helps increase your chances.
"If the profile comes across as boring, the likelihood of getting responses is also lower,"she says.
Occasionally, online matches do end up in marriages.
Local dating site, Who Works Around You, was founded in 2007 and has about 5,000 users.
Its founder, Ms Betty Goh, says she receives about two wedding invitations a year from online matches.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
