A blind date is a date between two people who have never met and typically know little or nothing about each other. Blind dates are generally arranged by a third party, usually a friend of one or both daters, either to bring together people the third party thinks might be compatible, but who might otherwise never meet, or because one or both of the daters has specifically expressed an interest in a blind date. Alternatively the match may have been made by a dating system.

Blind dates have become very famous after the rise of the Internet , when people who have met in chatrooms or fora finally agree to meet in person.

Typing fingers have replaced sweaty palms. Computer chimes substitute for awkward silences. And Internet super sleuths who want to know what they're getting into are phasing out the blind date.

Using the Web to research people before making contact is becoming the norm for many teens and twenty. They want to see everything from a potential date's picture to his or her credit history. Love might be many things, but with the Web, blind doesn't have to be one of them.

Technology has made anonymity largely a thing of the past. The Internet is now the little black book, a clearinghouse to meet and research potential dates.

Web sites including Google, online social networks such as Thefacebook.com and online background searches allow people to check others out without having to leave their chairs.