I hear a lot in the press the experiences of people who have had success with online dating—that is, the sites where you set up a profile, buy "credits" and then search for local people you think look attractive based on that profile then contact them. Just as a general impression, though, the same people that are successful with online dating (successful defined as physically meeting someone at least a few times as the result of the communications happening on an online dating site) are the same people who are successful in offline dating. That is, people who are willing to smoothly and unproblematically "make the first move" in a physical setting, i.e. extroverts.

As I say, that's a general impression, and I hear a story or two of nice, shy people meeting online, getting together, and finding that their personalities are compatible for a romantic relationship. Online dating doesn't seem very well suited for the people that most need to get out of the house and hang out with friendly members-of-the-sex-they-prefer. The stories are few and far between, though, so I wonder, those that consider themselves shy, what have their experiences been? I'm more interested in the guys' perspective, but I'd also like to hear about the shy girls' experiences.