St Valentine's Day, e-dating-style

A year from now, technology could have made the practice of posting a printed card to someone who hates your guts as much a part of history as poor old St Valentine himself. Text messages, ring tones and emails are already anonymously winging their way round the wires.

Further still, the age of internet dating has arrived. We now have the technology to ensure any future lovelorn missives go straight to the heart of someone's desktop, with a fair chance of a positive response.

Organised dating may have a certain stigma, but it's got to make more sense than current behavioural trends. Around 95 per cent of all relationships involve either geographical proximity or workplace romances.

Trish McDermott is VP of romance at Match.com, one of the many dating companies aiming to make the mating game more e-fficient. She reckons internet dating is the answer to lonely nights spent with a computer rather than a loved one.

Unlike traditional computer dating - in which boxes are ticked to come up with a faceless match for future passion - the internet these days improves the whole process, largely thanks to multimedia. The intended result is to introduce potentially perfect partners intelligently coupled by the computers of companies such as Match.com.

Trish (and I feel I can call her that, because we've spoken once by phone and have already arranged a London date) goes as far as to suggest that online dating can lead to a completely new concept - out of area relationships. Instead of flicking through the foreign TV channels in a hotel room while away on business, you can prearrange long-distance dates in places you will be visiting. Good for your social life. Good for the gene pool.

There are already services around that let you enter your details online, and then send you a text message when your mobile detects someone lurking in the same area as you who matches your requirements for an ideal mate.

Meanwhile, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing intelligent agent technology that takes account of your financial and work interests, roams the internet and searches for your perfect partner.

Valentine's can be sorrowful for singles. Bryan Ferry may once again dust down his old numbers for a comeback tour. He may well sing, "Loneliness is a crowded room". But he's living in the real world. Brian, hear this: in cyberspace it will be crowded chatroom full of people who all want to go out with you.

All potentially good news for those gritting their teeth tonight, and there are quite a few of us... sorry... them.

But we at silicon.com intend to change that. There are no simple conclusions to draw here, but in association with Match.com, we're offering free three-month accounts to the first five viewers who can tell us how St Valentine died. There is one catch: you also have to tell us how you get on - for technology's sake.

Further information is available at http://www.matchnewscenter.com and please email the answer to the St Valentine question to editorial@silicon.com.