Sex is what's really getting us online in such record numbers. They will spend £291m on "adult content" - almost twice as much. This year, Europeans will spend £157m on online dating. But the people you see online now are more like the people you see in everyday life." Except that the people I see in the street don't usually have their bits out. "There will always be those who don't like the idea of online dating," continues Elliott. Others include vegansingles, bikerdate and lovehorse.
Whoever you are, whatever you're into, there is a site out there for you. But now there are sites like christiansingles and primesingles." "A few years ago you could have claimed that strongly religious or elderly individuals were generally against online dating. Once the preserve of geeks and freaks, it seems that online dating is now everyday and OK. "That figure will almost double by 2008," predicts Nate Elliott, an online-dating analyst at JupiterResearch. The UK is the largest online dating market in Europe - last year we spent £31m looking for love online. Just as I check my bank balance online and my books sales on Amazon, I like to look and see who's looking at me. Thrillingly, subscribers can see who has viewed their profile and what they think. Putting up a picture of a celebrity and writing "Not me but looks like me" is a popular - but pilloried - option. Men don't have to post a photograph, but an air of mystery will only get them so far.