I think the mistake is more in looking for someone to love than it is in where one actually looks for it. If you go looking in the 3D world, you're just as apt to have unpleasant experiences as if you go looking on the 'net. I've certainly had my share of those.

In our case, we weren't really looking for anything. We just gradually got to know each other and over the course of about a year, we found that we had become best friends. We didn't discover a deeper connection until after we were already best friends.