Last fall, Ryan, a Lawrence senior, did something he had never done before: he agreed to go to dinner with a woman he’d never met. Ryan was breaking the norm and using an Internet dating service to meet local singles his age.

He is not alone. The latest Nielson NetRatings report estimates nearly 20 million people visited an online dating site just in the week of January 9, 2005, according to www.chiff.com, a Web site devoted to Internet dating statistics. With some dating sites boasting an average user age of 21, a record number of young adults are finding friendship and love on the Web.

Ryan says he decided to try a dating service because he was tired of meeting women at bars. “I was looking for a serious relationship and I wanted to meet someone who was looking for the same thing, but not drunk,” he says.

The site Ryan chose, www.match.com, charged him a user fee of $15 for a one-month membership. After paying the fee and filling out a questionnaire that asked personal questions about interests, hobbies and the type of person he was looking for, he was able to search for women matching his profile selections.

Within a few days, Ryan had been contacted (or “winked” at) by five women through his personal e-mail account. He soon began conversing with a woman named Crystal on a regular basis. “We talked for a couple of weeks through instant messenger and e-mail,” he says. Finally, they exchanged phone numbers and Ryan called to ask her on a date.

Although he was excited to meet Crystal in person, Ryan suggested they meet in public at the restaurant. “She seemed nice, but I didn’t really know her,” he recalls.

Ryan’s intuition was probably correct. Too often Internet users forget that going on a date with someone they’ve never met in person can be dangerous, warns Merav Knafo, founder of the college dating service www.CollegeFishing.com. Students think because they’ll be in a public place or they’ve been talking to someone on the phone, they’re safe.

Knafo says Internet daters should never expose information that could help a stranger locate them, like a last name or the name of a dorm. Daters also should wait to reveal e-mail addresses and phone numbers until they feel safe. If you decide to meet someone in person, Knafo suggests that you tell a friend where you’ll be and when they can expect you home.

`The week after their first meeting, Crystal called and asked Ryan on another date. The two went on several dates over the next two months, but Ryan felt that they didn’t have a real connection. “I was looking for more and I knew I wouldn’t have it with her,” he says.

Ryan says that Crystal didn’t get the hint. She “called constantly and left phone messages, e-mails and instant messaged me.” Over the next few weeks, Crystal left nearly 100 messages on his phone and through e-mails, he says.

While Internet dating may not be foolproof, some students do successfully start romantic relationships with someone they’ve met online. Christy, a Wamego sophomore in theatre design, met her former boyfriend on www.MySpace.com. When Christy put her profile and picture on MySpace last year, she was just looking for a way to meet new friends. When an attractive man sent her a message saying that he liked her picture, she responded.

Two weeks later, the two met in person for the first time and began dating. “It kind of just happened. I never thought I’d date someone I met on the Internet,” Christy says. The couple dated for two months before deciding that they were better off as friends.

Christy still talks to her ex-boyfriend once a week and visits him whenever she can.

“I feel kind of ridiculous now, but I met a really great guy, so it wound up being good,” she says. “If we had lived in the same place, we’d probably still be together.”

Even if you don’t find a long-term romantic partner through an Internet dating site, it can be a great way for busy students to “date hunt,” says Bev Bacon, author of Meet Me… Don’t Delete Me, a guide to Internet dating. You may meet a new friend or make plans for Saturday night that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, she says.

Even though his first experience wasn’t what he’d hoped, Ryan admits that he would be willing to try an Internet dating service again in the future. He says, “I think it can be effective. There are crazy people out there, but it is possible to meet people in non-traditional ways.”