Unlike Social Networks where friends join and are in each others’ networks, singles on dating site are usually alone and search a sea of profiles of strangers who are also looking to meet others. First emails between strangers can certainly be awkward to initiate and reply to. So, are Social Networks dating sites? Depends. Technically, I would say that any online community (SN, chat rooms, forums, etc) can function as a “dating” site, should you choose to use it that way, but a sites search functionality is a big part of what makes some sites more conducive for dating than others.
In my opinion one of the most important aspects of a dating site is its search functionality. Allowing members to search for potential matches by pictures, lifestyle, physical, personality traits, etc. is important to love seekers. “Quality” search results (ie. compatible matches) are facilitated by the ability to search and find exactly or close to what members are looking for in a potential partner.
MySpace is conducive for dating. They offer robust search filters like body type, religion, height.weight ranges, location, ethnicity, drinker, smoker and sexual orientation. To further help singles find a match they even allow you to search for members who are specifically looking to use the site for “dating”. Not all Social Networks offer such robust “dating” search tools. Sites like VOX allow you to search the sites content by tags only; such sites are not as conducive for dating as they place more emphasis on exploring content created by members than searching for members specifically.
Peace.
MySpace Search Fields
I think a socail network can be a dating site in away. I mean your meating people.