I thought online dating was brilliant. I met my wonderful DH (of almost 10 years now) on a dating site, and I rather enjoyed the process as well. Granted, I haven't been on one since, and things may have changed quite a bit (I'm not down with the whole swipe left/right bit so popular with the kids these days), so YMMV of course, but I would still recommend giving it a try!
True, it's very hit or miss at times. I sent loads of messages/requests/whatever to people and never heard back, and I got loads of messages from people I would rather just NOT contacted me, but it's still so much easier than in person that it was 100% worth it (and even the weirdos were entertaining at times). But it's so stressful trying to guess if the man you're looking at across the room could be single, could be looking, could be interested, could be decent and not a total arse, could have the same life goals as you... and that's all mostly out the door online.
You can get to know a fair bit about a person, at least the things they think are most important, right away from just their profile, without ever needing to speak to them, without them ever knowing you had a peek. You can weed through everything anonymously without anybody ever even knowing you looked. You can just ignore anybody who doesn't offer enough information or doesn't suit you, without wasting weeks or months figuring them out in person.
People on dating sites tend to be up front about whether they are only looking to meet new people, just looking to shag, or are looking for a serious relationship and ready to settle down. They tend to be up front about if they have kids or pets, mind/don't mind if you have kids or pets, what they want in a partner, what they want for the future, and things like that. And there are different sites (or at the very least options/sections/searches) tailored to different relationship goals - there are sites for random shagging and there are sites for people looking for love and marriage, and everything in between. There are even very specific sites for different religions, for people with STDs, for fetishes general or specific, for people with disabilities, for people with very particular types or interests; there is something for absolutely everyone!
OF COURSE people can be deceptive online - using older photos or lying about their lives - but if you find that's happened or even simply suspect, you can just walk away having lost very little if anything. And I think people learn fairly quickly how to spot the liars, the photoshops, the older/inaccurate photos, and things like that.
And this was very important to me: you can get to know a person online through skype, email, facebook, whatever, long before meeting them in person. You only have to give what you're willing to give, so if you want to keep your contact exclusive to the site only, or if you want to exchange email, or if you trust them enough to call and text, that's entirely up to you and the feeling you get from the other person. That was very liberating to me, and I found I was quite comfortable knowing my boundaries couldn't be crossed without my permission - nobody could turn up on my doorstep or ring/text at all hours, and I could deactivate or change my account to cut off contact with anyone at any time - and I was therefore able to be more honest.
In fact, my DH and I were "basically dating" (and even already in love) for a couple of MONTHS before we ever even met in person, so by then I felt I knew him and was sure I was safe with him and all that. We chatted just on the site's chat program at first, and worked up from there, then exchanged facebook profiles (and got a feel for each other's friends and family that way), then emails and IMs, then texts, etc., to the point that we were in almost-constant daily contact before we ever went on a real date. (And haha, I stayed over at his that very night! 
)
Another thing I found a HUGE bonus was that the pang of rejection is almost completely negated online! There are infinite perfectly valid reasons somebody may not return your contact - reasons that are definitely not personal rejection! If somebody does not return your contact, they very well may have found a partner already and forgotten to take down their profile, or maybe they haven't checked or have forgotten about the account, maybe they haven't seen the message, maybe they're out of the country, maybe they've had too many messages and can't keep up, maybe life has gotten in the way and dating has been put to one side, or any number of perfectly reasonable scenarios that in no way mean that they don't like you. I really like that myself as, on top of my low self esteem, I am horribly, embarrassingly socially awkward in 1 on 1 situations with new people, so I never had to beat myself up for acting stupid trying to chat somebody up and scaring them off. Not receiving a return message is SOOO much easier than being told "no thanks" (or worse) to your face!!
And I think we women have a massive advantage in online dating. It seems* there are far more men on dating sites than women - *SEEMS! I have done no real research!! - and men seem to be quite keen. IME, and from everything I've heard from people of both genders using sites today, women are still more likely to be contacted than men, so we have the option of taking the shotgun approach and sifting through the results at our leisure. (Though it must be awful to be a man on a dating site, send out dozens of messages, and never hear back at all. Poor sods.) I think a woman's chances of succeeding at online dating are better than those of the average man.
I do feel I should add that my DH is an absolute GEM. He is most certainly NOT the bottom of the barrel, some desperate, weird creep who couldn't get a date in real life. He is an absolute catch, and everyone who has ever met him agrees - even my parents love him just as much as they love me, and they are terribly hard to please when it comes to partners! He's good looking, startlingly intelligent, kind, funny, happy, easy to talk to, and generally a great person. So PLEASE don't worry that only desperate people look online because that's bollocks. Everyone does it now, because, just like online shopping, it's so much easier, quicker, and more convenient than the traditional methods! So we've got a far less interesting "how we met" story for the grandchildren, but we found each other and have a happy life, so who cares?
(Sorry! This "quick reply" turned into a bloody novel! I hope it's at least helpful to you!)