KEY POINTS:
Louise is one of those cool young women. She is a successful and cultured 34-year-old lawyer. She loves cycling, travelling and visiting art galleries.
And enjoys internet dating.
This week police warned single women to take care with dating websites after two women complained they had been sexually
attacked by a man with the cyber name "Houndman".
They had both met him through a dating website and gone to his rural home outside Huntly on separate occasions. He will reappear in Huntly District Court next month on rape and sexual violation charges.
But despite the risks cyber dating can pose, attractive young women like Louise insist the internet not the preserve of freaks and geeks but a fun and efficient way of meeting a potential boyfriend - if sensible precautions are taken.
And Louise is not alone.
One New Zealand internet dating site saw an influx of members only four days into the New Year.
Trade Me's Findsomeone site had a 30 per cent increase in online activity, taking its membership to more than a quarter of a million.
Findsomeone's business manager Mike O'Donnell said they have seen the boom at the same time for the past three years now.
He said online daters seem to be increasingly older, better educated and seeking a serious relationship.
According to one report, one in five single British adults use internet dating services and at match.com, an internet dating site, 46 per cent of its British users are under 30. In America, where the stigma of online dating vanished some time ago, looking for a partner on the web is seen as cool.
Sites such as nerve.com feature personal ads from young professionals who have to fill in statements such as "In my bedroom you'll find ... " and "Song or album that puts me in the mood ... "
Louise, from Auckland, spends about $10 a month on Findsomeone and around 15 minutes a night, three or four nights a week.
"My friends put me onto internet dating when I was a varsity student because I was living in Dunedin and knew everyone around my same group of people but didn't know anyone outside it because I was too busy," she explains.
"Then I moved down to Wellington and then to Auckland and have never taken myself off it.
I have been doing it for about two years. And it's kind of fun.
"I have met some weirdos and there's quite a large number of people who can't write or spell and some really tragic cases.
"I had one dreadful experience when I arranged to meet a guy at the art gallery in Dunedin. I met him in the cafe there and he immediately tried to get all over me like a rash.
"He kept saying he had a bottle of wine at home ready and waiting to be opened and I didn't really give a s***.
"I quickly realised when we were having the coffee that I wasn't going to be able to get rid of him.
"That's why you always make sure you meet somewhere reasonably public."
But despite the disappointments, Louise says she has met a couple of nice guys who she ended up having "short little flings with".
"It was great stuff," she adds.
Louise said she tends to communicate with someone between seven to nine times before she decides to meet them although she confesses "she gets bored very easily"
"I am quite busy and train a lot, so I am often out of the house. So someone needs to be able to catch my attention quickly and say something that makes me feel 'I want to meet this guy'.
"I never pin my hopes on it and I hope it won't be the way I ultimately meet someone. It's a bit of a false premise for a relationship.
"You are meeting are people who can write but can't necessarily talk. A lot of people use internet dating because they lack social skills. I am quite convinced on that one.
"People can sometimes talk to you five or six times and pass that test but when you meet them you realise 'Ugh'.
Lee Chisholm, operations manager for I NetSafe, a text bullying and online harrassment service said more people are turing to internet dating because their lives are busier and it is more user friendly than placing a personal ad in a singles column.
The number of people also meeting dates through online gaming sites, through virtual world, on forums, social networking sites is also spiralling.
"Online dating sites have grown hugely and while some people still find it a bit embarrassing to admit they are doing online dating, the stigma is getting less and less over time.
"Lots of people have genuine, interesting and fun relationships with people they meet online and these problems occur in the minority of cases."
"Online relationships also tend to develop very quickly and some things get missed that would not normally be overlooked in a developing relationship. When you can't see a person it is often difficult to pick up warnings signs.
Ms Chisholm believes it likely that there is under-reporting of sexual assaults or rapes that happen possibly because there's some embarrassment about admitting they met someone on an online dating site.
One of the biggest problems dealt with by I Netsafe is harrassment that occurs after a relationship has ended - cyber stalking or phone harrassment.
"We have had a couple of cases where a person couldn't accept that the relationship was over. We have seen misuse of photos after a relationship has ended such as remastering someone's photo onto a naked body or pornographic pose and sending it to their email. It's all about not giving away too much about yourself early on."
