What is the future of love as we know it today? I've heard it said that in 10 years time, 6 out of 10 people will meet their prospective partners over the Internet. What will it be like by 2020? Much less "love at first sight", that's for sure.

It maybe that you get to know the person inside a lot quicker because I've heard people say that chatting online encourages you to open up more than you would normally. I think that's probably because the whole conversation process is so concentrated. Well what else is there to do? No romancing, no candle-lit dinners or drinks in the pub where your friends get to meet him so that you can have those all-important long telephone conversations with them afterwards about whether he's a catch or not...

I also think I'd be constantly worrying about whether the person I had 'met' was genuine, and not some sh*tty school-kid, who was taking my heart-felt replies to school to laugh at them with their friends.

On the other hand however, if you struggle to make friends easily, and let's be honest, it doesn't take much for that to be a reality in this day and age, it's a really good way of bridging that gap into starting new friendships. As you get older and leave the institutions, like school or university, that help you meet and forge friendships with like-minded people regularly and often, it can become noticeably harder to meet people who you get on with enough to actively make into a friend. Who knows how much more difficult it could be in 2020 when more and more people work from home due to the advancement of communication technology.

In conclusion then, if it's something that makes people happy and keeps the wolf of loneliness from the door, then I can only say what a wonderful tool this could turn out to be in the future of friendships, and all that emerges from them.