After that big emotional break-up you might feel that you never want to date anyone ever again, but what about giving online dating for adult a try? Of course, give yourself time to recover first, but when the heartache starts to ease, or you no longer want to smash things, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again! But this time, tread carefully. An online dating service may be the ideal way to meet someone that you can enjoy life with again.

Or perhaps your dates never seem to get further than the first outing - maybe you just pick the wrong type and find they don't really interest you, after all. An online dating service can help you here, because they will find a person who is more likely to be interested in the same things you are. You do have to answer some questions to start with; otherwise your found match may be no match at all. Remember that the more of those questions you answer, the more likely you are to get a match that will suit you.

How do you know you are ready for online dating? Here are some points to consider:

• You are too busy to look around much or don't know where to look.
• You don't like going to singles bars alone.
• You spend quite a bit of time surfing on your computer.
• You are not currently dating anyone seriously.
• You feel lonely, but your last date was a disaster. 
• You would like to find someone quite different to your usual dates.

If you still wonder whether you are ready to take that big step of online dating, then remember that just because you join up to one of the many online dating services, it doesn't mean you have to actually date anyone. You can just look until you feel that a certain person could be the right one for you. And even if you do initiate - or agree to - contact, you don't have to take it any further than the first email unless you want to. It is all up to you.

One thing you have to be before you can join an online dating service and that is age 18! If you try to join when you are under this age, you will be breaking their terms of use and could be putting yourself in danger. So if you are a fit with all the criteria, go ahead and have a go. You never know who you may meet.