Its fun - and its a great way of meeting someone with similar interests (particularly if you dont dig the pub scene).
But it can be pretty harsh.
Sometimes people will start chatting to you and then when you send them a pic they just cut all contact (this happened a friend of mine and it seriously put her off - I explained to her that it doesnt mean there is anything wrong with her looks - just the particular person may not have been 'into' her).
There is also the problem of people re-inventing themselves on the internet. I met one guy who described himself as an occasional smoker and slightly overweight. When I met him he was very overweight and a chain smoker! His pic was pretty old as well, but there is no way of knowing that from a profile.
And sometimes you can chat to someone online or via email for ages and really get along but then when you meet them there is just no spark in person. So that can be frustrating if youve invested a lot of time in messaging over a number of weeks.
And then I suppose its prudent to be careful of the 'weirdos'. Another friend of mine met a guy who was totally normal in all his messages and within an hour of meeting was asking her if she would dress up in fetish gear and do odd things to him if the relationship worked out - he had not hinted at all that this is what he was looking for with the messages on the dating site. Needless to say - the 'relationship' ended there and then
I would say go for it - but remember the things Ive mentioned.
And Id also advise meeting people quickly, not dragging on messaging for weeks on end - because if you do end up meeting and no spark in person its disappointing.
When meeting someone in person that youve met online, always meet in a public place and always let someone know where you are and arrange to check in with your friend or family member at a pre arranged time and also when you are home let them know - basic safety - same issues could just as easily arise if you went on a date with someone youd met once in a bar.
Also make the first meet up brief - that way if youre not digging it you dont have to give up a whole saturday night to the date - maybe a lunch date to begin or something.
A lot of people who are not too computer savvy think there is something 'weird' about online dating, but I dont think its any different than any other way of meeting someone.
A guy in my office is married to a woman he met online. I myself had some successful dates from maybefriends.ie and I know some other relationships that have worked out successfully from it.