(August 22, 2012) National Public Radio (NPR) today did a special segment on online dating, titled “How to Maneuver the Wild World of Online Dating”.

Here’s the intro to the segment:

“Even if you’ve never been on an online date or would never admit, chances are you know someone who has. As more romantics turn to their keyboards and smartphones to search for that special someone, it seems like every day there is a new Website – even an app – to help make a love connection. You can even find dates based on religion; is he a dog person / cat person, culture, ethnicity, even eating habits. Here to talk about the growing world of niche dating sites is Erika Ettin. She’s an online dating coach; the founder of A Little Nudge…”

Tell Me More: NPR News Talks Online Dating Niche Sites

Some interesting quotes from the segment:

Erika Ettin (on biggest online dating tip): “Know what you’re getting yourself into. Make sure you’re ready for it. I tell clients all the time, ‘don’t start before you’re ready, but once you are, you have to devout your whole self to it.’ It is a lot of work, but it’s certainly worth it if you meet someone.”

Erika Ettin: “I think it’s nice knowing some facts about somebody before you go out with them, because it’s things that you know, you don’t really have to discuss later. So say religion is something that’s really important to you; you only want to date someone of your own religion. You know that going in, whereas if you met that person at a bar, you’d still have to ask what religion they were and see if you even wanna go out with them. So it is nice because if you have something in particular – a value or something that’s really important to you – you can help narrow the pool by looking online.”

Erika Ettin: “When it comes down to it, you narrow down your non-negotiable’s, right? So if your non-negotiable is really, ‘I only want someone who rides a motorcycle’. Heck, join a motorcycle lovers site… and wear a helmet. Whatever you’re looking for, if you know off the bat that you want that one characteristic, why not use a niche site to narrow down your choices?”