The Cyber Cyrano

BBC.CO.UK - July 8 - The modern-day cupids are popping up across the internet. They specialise in ghost writing witty, charming, flirtatious messages on behalf of single men and women unwilling, unable or too busy to do it themselves. "We've noticed a definite trend with more and more of these companies springing up- and there is a huge demand," says Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch, a site that tracks internet dating trends. "Necessity is the mother of invention," says Evan Marc Katz, who has worked as a dating coach since 2003 and runs e-cyrano.com, one of the first of this new breed of companies. "There are a surprising number of people out there who don't know how to market themselves in an original way." TargetLove offers everything, from basic profile writing for £150 to dating coaches who, for around £90 an hour, will talk the unlucky and inept through every step of the dating game. Some companies will go so far as posing as their client on dating sites and writing messages to potential partners to arrange first dates. Critics claim it is a dishonest way to try to find true love. Not so, insists Scott Valdez, the founder and president of Virtual Dating Assistants (VDA). "We are representing our clients as honestly and accurately as possible online," he says. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC.CO.UK

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