Once upon a time, finding love was a process consisting of a gentleman suitor, usually a local, calling upon a young maiden at regular intervals in her parent's parlour. If the gentleman was of good breeding, and if the maiden was equipped with an attractive dowry, a marriage would possibly ensue.

This was a system that, at least superficially, worked quite well for many hundreds of years. Since that time, however, advances in transportation and communications have opened peoples' minds to romantic possibilities well outside of their local regions. Efficient mail systems, the telephone, trains, automobiles and airplanes have made it possible to both begin and maintain relationships of all kinds at great distances.

However, there have been tremendous drawbacks to distance relationships through these means. Mailed letters are painfully slow, and it is not possibly to hear or see the correspondent. Telephone bills add up quickly, and you cannot see the other side, or actually do anything together with the caller. Using trains, planes and automobiles on a continuing basis are prohibitively expensive, and are extremely disruptive to domestic life. And with all of these, it is extremely difficult, and somewhat unlikely, that by labouriously combing through the millions of people in the world you will happen across just the right person for you.

Now, with the Internet, significant new potentials for finding love have emerged. As this list indicates, many of the traditional obstacles of distance romance have been wholly or in part overcome, and some exciting never-before-available promising capabilities can give you the best chance ever for finding true love: