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How to date casually without hurting anyone. So, you’ve decided to start dating. But instead of diving headlong into a committed monogamous partnership—or one of those polyamorous ones that’s really more about booty-calling whoever’s around—you’re going to datecasually. Which is to say, an ongoing but uncommitted relationship wherein the parties involved actively choose a lower-stakes relationship. The caveat is that neither party is entitled to substantial emotional support or exclusivity from the other. [...]

The Rules Of Casual Dating. For those of us who aren’t ready to settle down and want to enjoy our freedom, casual dating seems like a heaven. You get to have fun on dates, have a hot girl to crawl in your bed pretty much whenever you want, but still get to flirt and have fun with other ladies. [...]

Casual Dating. When It's OK To Date More Than One Person. Multiple dating certainly happens in Britain, but the stark difference is that we don’t talk about it. [...]

How To Turn A Fling Into A Relationship. Today, courting, dating and waiting for that first kiss are pretty much an old-school joke. [...]

In Favor of Casual Sex. Sex is far from the primitive, base instinct we are led to believe it is. It’s our most complicated human need. Whether in a casual encounter or a long relationship, through sex we communicate our emotions, negotiate power, give and receive pleasure, confront our fears and fantasies, and sometimes heal our inner lives. Moreover, I have grown to appreciate how sex benefits us far beyond its physical pleasure or biological function. When practiced intelligently and generously, sex has the capacity to help heal our emotional wounds and rectify unmet childhood needs. [...]

Sex Researcher Jocelyn Wentland Talks Casual Sex. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your research. To date, my research has focused primarily on casual sex and highly sexual women. For my undergraduate thesis, I examined reasons why women engage in casual sex and have continued this line of research for my dissertation research. However, I’m now focusing on definitions of casual sex relationships (What is a Booty Call? Are Fuck Buddies the same as Friends with Benefits?).  I’ve also done some work with a colleague on how technology is changing the modern dating script. [...]

[...]'There is a new, higher-metabolism social animal emerging in the tide pools of online-datingcommunities, no doubt about it, particularly among those under 26,' agrees Rufus Griscom, co-founder of Nerve andchairman of Spring Street Networks [...] 'Online socializing is a vehicle for turbo-charging the social experience ratherthan some kind of crutch.' In other words, these aren't people who necessarily have trouble getting laid -- they justwant to get laid more. No one is interested in lengthy e-mail courtships [...]

[...] In fact, a poll conducted by Shape and Men's Fitness in the USA has reported that 40 percentof women admit that sex with a new love interest was fast-tracked thanks to Web 2.0. [...] [...] social media has simplyopened up communication between people in ways that weren't done before. It's by no means a 'fake' way ofcommunicating, but rather, online messaging can mean that you get to know a person far better than if you've only spentone or two dates chatting to them.[...] social media has opened up a way to get that romantic thrill in a safe environment.[...]

[...] While subscriptions to dating sites that offer romantic love are stagnating in recent times, thesubscriptions to sites dedicated to casual encounters are growing exponentially. And the surprise is that women are leadingthe way, often in the role of hunter rather than prey. Among the many sites that make no secret of their goals one of themost interesting is CasualClub.com. The cornerstone is absolute privacy: no photos, no chat and profiles that shows only theusers’ sexual preferences, tastes and the locations where they wish to find a partner. A complex algorithm is responsiblefor selecting and proposing possible new partners to the members: they can then choose to get in touch, exchange messages, orgo straight to the point to feel the thrill of surprise. And if you are very shy, a wide selection of ready-made phraseshelps breaking the ice for the first contact. [...]

The internet has made many aspects of our lives more convenient. From doing research to shopping, wedepend on the net for many of our daily activities. You may not have considered going online in search of random hookups, butthe miracle of the internet, when properly used, can even improve your sex life (and not just by providing an endless streamof porn). Arranging casual encounters online has become fairly commonplace, and the internet makes finding a potential mateincredibly convenient, especially for people who are very busy or who are not into the bar scene. If what you’re lookingfor is purely physical, however, the internet can be a godsend. Approaching a girl in a bar with the intention of a one-nightstand is almost always a losing prospect, so you have to pull out all the stops to seduce her and then deal with theconsequences of your one-night-only attitude when she expects a relationship the next morning. All this trouble can beavoided by arranging casual encounters online, where both your intentions and theirs are crystal clear from the beginning.No, it isn’t just middle-aged swingers that use the internet for hooking up. There are young, attractive people online whowant to keep things simple and have some fun. [...]

[...] A peculiar example of this trend is CasualClub.com, dedicated, starting from the name, to casualdating. Those who register to Casual Club are not interested in finding a mate for life, but simply in living a romance withno strings attached, perhaps hidden from their spouse. It is worth noting that the site does not encourage treason, it simplydoes not show off a false morality: noting that cheating is a common behavior, the site allows those who are interested to doso without being judged. The emphasis is indeed on the absolute privacy guaranteed to the users: there are no photos, nonickname, no instant chat. During the registration process the users are asked to specify, leaving nothing to theimagination, their sexual tastes, the characteristics of the partner and the place where they are look for it. To avoid the'catalog effect' typical of the classic dating sites the choice of the possible partners is due to a complexalgorithm that, by combining the data provided by users, automatically selects the partners and proposes to the members onlythe most interesting ones. Users can exchange e-mails and possibly arrange a meeting with the certainty, of course nevermathematic, to conclude it in the best way. All of that browsing a site of simplicity and elegance, designed also for thoseunfamiliar with a computer. [...]

We topped a list including Germany, Holland, America and Australia for one-night stands, number ofpartners and attitudes to promiscuity. US researchers used an index of factors to give 48 countries a'sociosexuality' score based on the replies to questionnaires. People were asked, for example, how many partners theyexpected to bed in five years and how comfortable they felt about casual sex. The country with the top score of 51 wasFinland. Britain scored 40 and was 11th, but led Western nations with populations over ten million. The researchers fromBradley University, Illinois, believe casual sex is becoming as acceptable among women as men. [...] The study found almost athird of Britons had poached partners from other relationships rather than seek single mates. [...]

[...] It’s apparent that a growing proportion of users is looking for more focused experiences withthose who share particular interests and desires; this despite the fact that users can find more fish in the proverbial seaat mainstream sites. [...] [...] Casual (or 'adult') dating sites are the antithesis of eHarmony and are definitelynot focused on helping people find long-term relationships. Instead, they help the more 'casually inclined' to findthe people who fit their specific physical and sexual preferences. Very specific preferences in some cases. These casualsites have shown solid gains in the internet market as a whole. While the top 10 mainstream dating sites gained only 0.01% oftotal Internet traffic over the past year, the top three casual adult sites gained 0.07%. That’s a hefty 56% increase inthe traffic to adult dating sites [...]

[...] I was really surprised to find a stylish and absolutely not vulgar site. For women it'sfree, and since I was there I tried to register and, although I must confess that the step on sexual preferences was a bittoo explicit, my impression of general good taste was confirmed. The profiles are anonymous, you can’t upload photos andthe profiles match are proposed automatically by the system, so zero space for unwanted messages from annoying people youdon’t share the same interests with. Not everyone may be interested in casual relationships or in being the lover of amarried man, but I suggest you take a look, even just out of curiosity. You never know, you may find the ideal lover withouteven having to try! [...]

[...] Susannah, 36, is typical of the new generation of internet daters. 'I'm less preoccupiedwith having a full- time relationship. I'm actually happy being single. But I was looking for something in my life thatwas missing.' Like what? 'Sex. Romance. Flirting.' [...] [...] the shift in attitudes is down to our newitinerant lifestyles. 'There are a lot of single people out there but it's getting harder to bump into them. Wedon't marry our college sweethearts, we delay marriage for our careers, we leave home - which means we abandon all thosetraditional matchmakers like our relatives or our neighbours.' Couple this with the fact that we work very long hours andhave limited time to socialise. In New York, internet dating has taken off to such an extent that they call it 'manshopping', or 'hyperdating'. People set up 10 online dates every week, sometimes several in one night. Women gettogether, order in some sushi and sit on the net for a few hours. 'How about MuscleMan?' Too straight.'Homeboy?' He lives in Wisconsin. 'RedRob' 'Have you seen those teeth?' They may not meet the love oftheir life on an internet dating site but it beats watching Ally McBeal. [...] [...] For many women, online dating is a placewhere they can flirt in a far more upfront way than they might do in a club or a bar. Every woman I spoke to talked aboutfeeling liberated by the net, more confident, more dominant. [...] [...] There's a sense that women can express theirsexuality without fear of 'real world' repercussions: '... these relationships are much more sexual thanreal-life ones. I guess it's because women can be more daring and upfront when they are anonymous..[...] [...] Whetherthey met their partner or not, no one regretted trying out on-line personals. All agreed that, like the web, they have becomea unique part of modern life. As McDermott says: 'Technology has always revolutionised dating. First it gave us the trainso we could travel and meet new people. Then it gave us the telephone and the automobile. The internet is the nextrevolution. [...]