If you're looking for the perfect redshirt to snuggle with under a USS Enterprise blanket while watching "Star Trek" reruns, you're in luck.
Single Trekkies of all sexual orientations can beam up their profiles on TrekDating.com, a site established in 2013 when founder Jonathan Bird was looking for love himself. It worked, by the way. He and wife Dawn met on the website just two days after she joined. (Jonathan Bird said the marriage is still going well, even though Dawn doesn't speak Klingon.)
"A few years ago, I wanted to teach myself code," Bird told Space.com via email. "I'd already opened a few dating sites but never built them from scratch myself. I knew I'd have to build something that kept me interested; after all, it's the only way to learn. So, being a Trekkie myself, I figured, Why not TrekDating.com?"
Millions of users have already signed up, Bird said. But he's anticipating an even bigger surge in traffic now that the "Star Trek" franchise has hit its 50th anniversary. (The original TV series debuted in 1966.) In the last year alone, TrekDating.com has added nearly 100,000 members, most of whom hail from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, Bird said.
The U.K.-based website is part of a growing group of dating sites and services that cater specifically to fans of comics, science fiction and fantasy. Many comic conventions offer a speed dating service to attendees, for example. Other options are also available online, such as StarTrekDating.com, Trek Passions and Trekkie Dating.
"TrekDating.com shows no signs of slowing down," Bird said. "Our plan is simple: Continue to support the fans and give them a safe place to meet. Because without them, the site won't boldly go anywhere."
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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