If online date-hunting intimidates you, a better approach might be to seek people with whom you share an interest. In a group, you can focus on making friends who someday might turn romantic.

Meetup spans almost 5,000 interest topics. Sign up for one, arrive at the local Meetup venue for drinks and discussion, and see what happens. Meetup's services are completely free, although by the time you read this, a premium M+ service ($3 a month) will deliver enhanced e-mail and photo-hosting tools to members.