This thesis deals with online dating sites. An online dating site is an Internet site with the main objective to mediate between singles. It is a relay service, or dating service, not so different from the services long offered by the contact ads. The main difference is the agency over the Internet. The online dating sites in the sample are: E-kontakt; Match; and Mötesplatsen. The aim has been to clarify the structure of online dating sites. In concrete terms, it was about to discern patterns that can be interpreted as peculiar and common to play on online dating sites. By extension, it was about creating a better understanding of the service offered in the form of various search engines and other tools to find the big love. The thesis overall aim got manageable by three questions: 1) What is the usual treatment of unregistered visitors? 2) What features are offered to registered users? And, 3) what tools are provided to find a date? The thesis used two theoretical standpoints: the modified version of Al Cooper’s Triple-A Engine, which can be found in Christian Daneback’s thesis Love and sexuality on the internet from 2006; and Zygmunt Bauman: Liquid modernity from 2000 and Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds from 2003. The empirical data was collected by an ethnographic approach. I used and took note of some of the services offered on the Internet sites I had intended to study. The reason is that many online dating sites require registration. The empirical data were analyzed with an analytical method developed by Malin Sveningsson, Mia Lövheim & Magnus Bergquist: Att fånga nätet: Kvalitativa metoder för internetforskning from 2003. The results landed in three answers: 1) The standard treatment is that online dating sites allow unregistered visitors to take part of the basal parts of the Internet sites features, but prevents non-registered visitors from contacting registered users. 2) Online dating sites offer three basic features for registered users: tools to a/ create a personal profile; b/ make contact; and c/ maintain a long-term relationship. 3) Online dating sites offer three basic tools that will facilitate the outreach of dating: a/ simple search engine; b/ advanced search engine; and c/ matchmaking functions. The overall result should be that online dating sites present both opportunities and constraints for users looking for love on the Internet.

<p>This thesis deals with online dating sites. An online dating site is an Internet site with the main objective to mediate between singles. It is a relay service, or dating service, not so different from the services long offered by the contact ads. The main difference is the agency over the Internet. The online dating sites in the sample are: E-kontakt; Match; and Mötesplatsen.</p><p>The aim has been to clarify the structure of online dating sites. In concrete terms, it was about to discern patterns that can be interpreted as peculiar and common to play on online dating sites. By extension, it was about creating a better understanding of the service offered in the form of various search engines and other tools to find the big love. The thesis overall aim got manageable by three questions: 1) What is the usual treatment of unregistered visitors? 2) What features are offered to registered users? And, 3) what tools are provided to find a date?</p><p>The thesis used two theoretical standpoints: the modified version of Al Cooper’s Triple-A Engine, which can be found in Christian Daneback’s thesis <em>Love and sexuality on the internet</em> from 2006; and Zygmunt Bauman: <em>Liquid <em>modernity</em> from 2000 and <em>Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds</em> from 2003.</em></p><p><em>The empirical data was collected by an ethnographic approach. I used and took note of some of the services offered on the Internet sites I had intended to study. The reason is that many online dating sites require registration. The empirical data were analyzed with an analytical method developed by Malin Sveningsson, Mia Lövheim & Magnus Bergquist: <em>Att fånga nätet: Kvalitativa metod<em>er för internetforskning</em> from 2003.</em></em></p><p><em><em>The results landed in three answers: 1) The standard treatment is that online dating sites allow unregistered visitors to take part of the basal parts of the Internet sites features, but prevents non-registered visitors from contacting registered users. 2) Online dating sites offer three basic features for registered users: tools to a/ create a personal profile; b/ make contact; and c/ maintain a long-term relationship. 3) Online dating sites offer three basic tools that will facilitate the outreach of dating: a/ simple search engine; b/ advanced search engine; and c/ matchmaking functions. The overall result should be that online dating sites present both opportunities and constraints for users looking for love on the Internet.</em></em></p>