Most of us probably fought early on against the notion that Internet use is all about sex. Well much of the time it isn't but sometimes it is about sex - or love - and considering the amount of public interest in this use of the Internet this aspect is surprisingly under-studied (qualitatively at least). So here's a timely collection of essays potentially useful for your own research, teaching or just coming up with interesting anecdotes at cocktail parties... http://www.palgrave.com/newsearch/Catalogue.aspx?is=1403998493 [blurb follows] Online Matchmaking examines the joys, fears, and disappointments of hooking up with people in cyberspace. Unlike most other books that exist in this field, this collection includes studies by experts from a variety of disciplines, including Communications, Cultural studies, English, Health, Journalism, Psychology, Rhetoric, and Sociology. Online Matchmaking could be used as a primary or secondary resource for any subject that focuses on cyber-relationships. Contents: Introduction; M.T.Whitty PART 1: DEFINING ONLINE MATCHMAKING From the BBS to the Web: Tracing the Spaces of Online Romance; D.N.DeVoss Cyborgasms: Ten Years On and Not Enough Learned; R.Hamman Scripting the Rules for Mars and Venus: Advice Literature and Online Dating; S.Paasonen PART 2: PRESENTATION OF SELF TO ATTRACT LOVERS The Art of Selling One's 'Self' on an Online Dating Site: The BAR Approach; M.T.Whitty Examining Personal Ads and Job Ads; A.Horning How Do I Love Thee and Thee and Thee: Self-presentation, Deception, and Multiple Relationships Online; J.M.Albright PART 3: ONLINE DATING PROGRESSION TO FACE-TO-FACE: SUCCESS OR FAILURE? Expressing Emotion in Text: Email Communication of Online Couples; A.J.Baker A Progressive Affair: Online Dating to Real World Mating; K.Y.A.McKenna PART 4: DARKER SIDES OF ONLINE DATING Cyber-Stalking as (Mis)Matchmaking; B.H.Spitzberg & W.R.Cupach Cyber-Victimization and Online Dating; R.A.Jerin & B.Dolinsky PART 5: ONLINE DATING SUB-GROUPS Sexual Orientation Moderates Online Sexual Activities; R.M.Mathy Whips and Chains? Fact or Fiction?: Content Analysis of Sadomasochism in Internet Personal Advertisements; D.K.Wysocki & J.Thalken Conclusion: M.T.Whitty --- David Brake, Doctoral Student in Media and Communications, London School of Economics & Political Science <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/study/ mPhilPhDMediaAndCommunications.htm> Also see http://davidbrake.org/ (home page), http://blog.org/ (personal weblog) and http://get.to/lseblog (academic groupblog) Author of Dealing With E-Mail - <http://davidbrake.org/ dealingwithemail/> callto://DavidBrake (Skype.com's Instant Messenger and net phone)