LoveHowTo Dating Directory: Online Speed Dating

Online speed dating - with "speed" as the operative word. These one-minute virtual hookups happen via webcam from your very own desk, or lap as the case may be. Following each date, you're asked if you want to post your video on the site's WooMe TV. If both parties agree, you've just gone public, one minute into your new relationship. No webcam? Well, you can go with an avatar and a headset but it just won't be the same. Great for those with ADD, but the lasting effects of meeting people this way seem minimal. A young crowd. WooMe is backed by one of the founders of Skype.

You create a profile and customize it with photos, links, blog posts, music, video and more. You can then enter speed dating rooms with up to 10 people, start up your own room, IM other members on the site and post blogs. You can even do it from within Facebook by adding an application to your page (see http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=21717164272). A fun and well-implemented concept, and free to use.

Meet for three-minute video dates via webcam! Seeing and hearing a prospective date theoretically cuts out the awkwardness of an in-person meeting: if you two don't feel chemistry in three minutes, you'll never bother setting an in-person meeting. It's a little disconcerting, but gets easier as you try more.

The main focus of this site isn't online, it's real-world speed dating - click the "Parties" tab and enter your city for a schedule. Owned by Spark Networks.

Camlink offers an array of themed speed dating events. There is no software to download, so you're instantly ready to mingle. Once the session begins, you rotate from one person to the next. It's all random: no profiles, no pre-screening. No ending a "date" early, either, to prevent hurt feelings. Find someone you like? Cross your fingers that it's mutual and take it to the next level. The site was founded in 2007 but word is it might not make it to 2009.

There are no profiles: you log in only to confirm meeting times or to attend a dating session, not to see who's on. Once you set up your matching criteria, you can either wait for date invitations or send out an invitation yourself. Uses bidirectional matching: your date must have the qualities you're looking for and vice versa. To actually have a date you'll need to download and install the site's video-chat program.

A glitchy site and still seems to be waiting for more people to move into the "city" - yet if you try to sign up they say they're not accepting new memberships. And the metaphor's a little forced, with a username that's called a "Citizen ID," joining up called "Moving In," that kind of stuff.