Online dating - beyond email!

Remember when you used to sit there for half an hour while a short email waddled its way through cyberspace on your dial-up connection? Online dating has come a long way since then. These days, there's a whole array of multimedia to help you find and connect with potential dates. Say goodbye to "waiting for the phone to ring" and hello to flirting by instant message and webcam...

The UK's biggest dating website, DatingDirect.com, is crammed with innovative communication tools that make email look ancient and the telephone look prehistoric. Here's a quick guide to the best of the bunch.

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Instant messaging has been around for years, and its private, real-time nature makes it perfect for getting to know someone online. You can use our online dating service Messenger tool to chat to anyone currently online, as long as they accept your Messenger invitation. To invite them in for a chat, pick their user name from the list of people currently online or go straight to their profile and click the Chat icon.

When you're chatting, bear in mind a few general rules of instant messaging etiquette. If you need to take a break from the conversation, say so - don't just vanish for 10 minutes. Type "be right back", or "BRB". Similarly, don't end a conversation just by going silent and switching off your Messenger window. The other person will think they've said something to offend you.

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If you're shy about emailing someone to find out more about them, you can set an online questionnaire for them to fill in. It's a great way to suss out your compatibility with a potential date. Our online dating service test feature allows you to set between five and 20 multi-choice questions for other site members to answer. You can either choose your questions from the ready-made list of suggestions, or, if you're feeling creative, you can write your own. You'll then receive an email alert every time someone answers your questions.

Top tip: if you're a bit bored one afternoon at work, sit a few questionnaires set by other members. Just go to a profile that catches your eye, head for the His/Her Test section, and see the hours fly by and you whiz through your answers. You may even get a hot new date as a result!

Forget photos - what you really want to see is someone's face in all its moving, talking glory. The cool new My Video tool allows you to record and post a one-minute video as an introduction to potential dates, and to view other people's own video intros. You can use your video to talk about pretty much anything you like, as long as it's clean and doesn't contain any commercial messages - so here's your chance to showcase your dry sense of humour, chat about what you're looking for in an ideal partner, or just show off your sexy voice.

Recording a video is very easy, and all you need is a cheap webcam and a decent broadband connection. Click the My Video link in the My Profile tab on the DatingDirect.com homepage, switch on your computer's webcam and microphone, and click the REC link in the video window. After recording, watch your video and approve it or record it again if you're not happy. When you've finished, click to submit your recording, and your video will be approved by the site's moderators.

Put video and messaging together, and you get the closest thing to a real-life date without actually going to the pub! This is a great way to find out more about someone who catches your eye, and to see whether you really do fancy them. Scientists reckon that up to 80% of physical attraction is down to the way that someone moves, speaks and holds themselves, and that's not something you can judge from a photo.

Inviting someone to join you for a video conversation is as simple as inviting them to chat on Messenger. However you can only video chat with members who are listed as your contacts - that is, you've accepted their contact invitation or they've accepted yours. If one of your contacts has switched on their webcam, their video chat icon turns green. You can also invite someone to have a video chat directly from your Messenger window. Either of you can record a video chat, but only if you both agree to it.

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