There was this girl. We?ll call her Sara. Sara met a man who she thought was the man of her dreams. He was everything she had always wanted. He was tall, dark and handsome. He played football on Saturdays and fed the needy on Sundays. He was the male version of Mother Theresa. But what Sara didn?t know about Mr. Perfect was that he was short, bald, weighs 375 pounds., and he?s actually the needy one. He plays football, but just on his new PlayStation 3 he stood in line for seven hours to get.

Can anyone guess what Sara did wrong? That?s right – Sara missed a few minor details because she met him over the Internet.

Online dating seems to be catching on and has become a popular trend in the life of many hopefuls still searching for true love. Simply put, it?s the new dating style of the 21st century. Whether it is Match.com, eHarmony.com, trudating.com or Americansingles.com, online dating sites are raking in money from love hopefuls around the world. According to Yahoo Finance, Match.com has 15 million registered users, with more than a million who pay the $25 monthly fee. Last year, Match.com?s revenue was about $249 million. $249 million from people who are too damn lazy to take themselves to a bar, grocery store, a classroom or even a friend?s party, to meet someone.

Online dating has become the single?s bar of today and it is something I completely urge people not to do. How do you know you are meeting who you think you are meeting?

He may tell you that he looks like Taye Diggs, can cook up a storm and that he drives a Mercedes, but have you ever seen that brother roll up to your house in a Mercedes?

It?s addictive and easy, and it?s a short-term remedy for seclusion and boredom. But it?s essentially blind. Our instincts about people are based not just on what ideas they want to communicate, but on appearance, body language, facial expressions and tone of voice — all subtleties that are lost while communicating via online, no matter how many emotion icons you use.

Junior interior design major Danielle Low agreed that online dating is not a way to form lasting adult relationships.

“People in their ?20s have plenty of time to find love in their daily lives,” Low said. “Our biological clocks aren?t ticking; we aren?t running out of time or options. It?s a matter of actually going out and meeting someone instead of using the Internet as a cop-out.”

Besides the excessive lying that goes on during online chatting, does anyone realize the dangers that can come from meeting someone online?

He can be a complete psychopath who just got out of the looney bin who has forgotten to take his medication. Opening up your heart to a complete stranger online is not the smartest thing to do.

Since the holidays are approaching, it seems to me that singles are doing everything in their power to find that special someone. It?s not that important to find a significant other to spend money on for Christmas.

Now don?t get me wrong, I know plenty of couples who have met online who are happy together, but I still think it?s a bad idea to pour your heart out to a person you met three days ago while surfing through eHarmony.com or MySpace.com.

This phenomenon is getting a little bit out of hand. So many people are logging on, talking to random people and are not quite sure what they are getting themselves into. So, I?ll leave it up to you to decide. Is it love at first sight or does love just byte?

Rosa Pastran can be reached at [email protected]