After being in a good relationship for 2 years (still good friends with my ex) it kind of changed the way I looked at dating as a whole.

The problem with dating sites is that it assumes 2 things:

1 - You actually know what you want in a relationship

If I saw my ex's profile on a dating site I don't think we would've clicked at all. Interest wise, we had pretty much nothing in common, and our backgrounds don't match. I was a short Asian guy dating a taller white girl, which should've been statistically improbable by OKCupid's standards. ;)

2 - You have to agree with your partner about everything for things to be healthy

I think that dating sites tend to emphasize the idea of "compatibility" as if it had something to do with agreement. My ex was kind of a hippie environmentalist while I was more interested in industry and technology, but in the end, it didn't really matter. I think it's actually kind of dangerous to date someone who's too similar to yourself because people do get territorial over what they feel like is their domain, sometimes. (Probably why I probably won't be dating a techie like myself any time soon.)

I still think the best way to meet people is to have some sort of hobby or activity you do on a regular basis (online or off), because what you really want to do is get to know someone over some amount of time to test for chemistry and trustworthyness. I don't think there's really any way to get that kind of thing from first impressions.

I just started to get back into the dating game now that my life has settled a bit from the crazy year I had so this post kind of caught my eye. Good luck!