No one is claiming that online personals are completely accurate and 100% effective. There have been some rather bizarre stories coming out of popular online match services, as well as some just plain bizarre dating services.

One of the most notorious examples of bad dating stories is that of E-Harmony.com. What ill-thing can you say about E-Harmony.com? It's patented and scientific matching system has won numerous awards and accolades in the industry. However, a complaint was issued by the gay and lesbian community, stating that the website discriminates against same sex couples. The website released CompatiblePartners.net as a response, to even more controversy. It turns out that the new gay website used the same scientific method for matching homosexuals that it did for heterosexuals. Needless to say, that didn't make anyone happy.

If you read reviews of online personals in advance of signing up with such a service, you could have prevented such distress. What about websites that have high male-to-female ratios, and have reportedly inflated their member count using fake or duplicate profiles? Again, reading online personals and reviews from our recommended dating sites can help you avoid these websites.

Ideally, you want to join a website that has active members. Browse the personals and make sure that the website features profiles that have been active within the last few days. Make sure that the profiles seem unique and not generic. A picture means nothing at this stage. Pay attention to the words!

On the subject of strange happenings in the dating world, we would be remiss if we didn't point out some of the weirdest dating websites on the net. DailyDiapers.com is a website that caters to adult diaper fetishes. How about ex-felon dating? While some websites go out of their way to screen against felons, some websites like Inmate.com and Women Behind Bars welcome the criminally convicted. Other weird sites bring together Star Trek geeks, geeks in general, "beautiful" people, single giants, and little people dating. Not that there's anything wrong with these niche sites-in fact, they are quite inspiring to see. However, checking online personals and reading their reviews will prevent you from getting mixed up with the wrong crowd.

It just proves that there is someone for everyone. Our favorite weird dating site is CrazyBlindDate.com in which the company purposely sets you up on a blind date, presumably to see just how well the mismatched can get along. Why not join the fun? Look into online personals right now!