Shanghai service turning online dating into online living together

On-line dating is already one of the most successful business ventures to spring out of dot com mania, but it looks like one Shanghai based company is going to take the dating service idea one step further.

915915.com.cn is trying a new approach, according to Shanghai Daily - it sets up its matched couples in "love apartments" located in Xujiahui or Zhangjiang High Tech Park. The company thinks that giving people a longer period to interact than just a date will increase the success rate of on-line matchmaking services.

Now before you get any naughty ideas in your head we should let you know that these on-line wannabe love birds will be monitored by "life coaches" from 915915.com.cn.

We agree that current online dating services are kind of hit or miss when it comes to pairing you up with your mate for life... but we're not sure we like where this is going. As more and more companies continue to bring their services to Shanghai, are they going to continue to get more complex?

They have you living in apartments together with your e-match today - what's next? Adopting a puppy? Cosigning on a mortgage? Going straight to divorce proceedings?

We still think that if you're going to give on-line dating a shot it should be through the simplest method possible like on-line personals (hint hint).

Personally, we're staunchly holding onto the era where you worked up the courage to ask that special someone out because the two of you locked eyes across a crowded room... not because some online medium calculated your personality percentages and decided you were algorithmically meant for each other (and then tested out its hypothesis by throwing the two of you into an apartment in the Shanghai boondocks).