If Sex and the City taught us anything, it’s that New York City is romantically challenging for single women; they have better odds of finding a long-term companion in Silicon Valley than Silicon Alley. So it wasn’t surprising that Wednesday’s audience at Social Media Week New York’s event on digital dating was over three-quarters female.

The lively panel of online dating experts and relationship gurus showed no signs of post-Valentine’s Day advice burnout. Cosmopolitan executive editor Joyce Chang, serving as moderator, noted the vast scope of online dating: 40 million of America’s 54 million singles have tried it, and 20% of current couples met online. People spend more time being single these days, so online dating has evolved to meet their needs.

Now the practice has begun to merge with offline interaction as sites like Match.com host live events. How About We co-founder Brian Schechter  said, “It’s about humanizing the experience”. For E Jean Carroll, Elle magazine’s advice columnist and matchmaker, it’s always been about personal interaction (she also co-founded Tawkify.com and Walkify.com, which sets people up via phone or to go on walks together).

Startups and apps have been gaining more traction. IAC’s Match.com bought OK Cupid two years ago. The startup’s co-founder, Sam Yagan, described his site as “offering companionship via first dates”. Its recently launched Crazy Blind Date app generated buzz since it matches users and locations for twenty minute dating encounters. How About We, another popular site, provides a stream of dating activity options to connect users.

The panelists debated the challenges of online vs. offline dating using interesting stats:

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Yesterday we told you about the Banana Republic/AMC cross-promotion likely to have Mad Men fans dressing like the Drapers come spring.

But it now appears that the retailer’s relationship with AMC is not exclusive–as anyone at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce will tell you, it often pays to have a little something going “on the side.”

Just in time for Valentines Day, Banana Republic’s global spring campaign centers on a single concept — love. Aww.

In order to get customers in the mood, the retailer will kick off its amorous rollout by hosting in-store mixers co-sponsored by Match.com. These after-hours soirees, hosted in cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, will be open to members of Match.com’s Stir events program, who can mingle with fellow cardigan-wearing singles while sipping cocktails and enjoying discounts on merchandise.

Oh, and fear not for the lonely hearts who will leave these gatherings alone; every attendee will receive a free Billy Joel CD to keep them warm on the long, cold winter nights. (Ed. note: We now assume that these events are open only to the 50-and-over set.)

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We’ve all heard that there is no longer a stigma associated with online dating. Technology is increasingly bringing the human race together while also pulling us further apart, which means that each of us is closer than ever to people we’re never going to talk to–let alone date.

Still, the possibilities of online dating are almost limitless. We love that idea–and it draws thousands of paying customers to sites like Match.com. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Internet is not reality. In fact, at its worst, the Internet involves the most despicable parts of reality masquerading as rainbows and unicorns.

So when a woman recently brought a lawsuit against Match.com for connecting her with a man who ended up stabbing her 10 times, we immediately saw that this story, in addition to being a tragedy, also illustrates a future PR conundrum: to what degree are dating sites responsible for the behavior of their clients?

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Excuse us for being a little skeptical about the relevance of Facebook‘s new “Graph Search” function, presented to reporters yesterday by the company’s communications staffers on demo stations that New York Magazine’s Kevin Roose calls “PR Borgs.”

Seriously, though: Why would we want to search for “pictures that my friends took in Canada” or “dentists’ offices where my friends have checked in” or “single women in Park Slope who know one of my friends and like Game of Thrones“? (OK, that last one might make sense if we were still single.)

The more we think about it, though, we feel like graph search–which really needs a new name, BTW–could infringe upon the territory of other social networks, primarily LinkedIn, Foursquare, Yelp, dating sites like Match.com and the big one…Google.

What does this mean for the PR world?

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In the past, Craigslist killers and Match.com horror stories often led the public to view social networking sites with one eyebrow raised. Now the stink is finally lifting.

We get it–any platform that provides the opportunity to pose as someone other than yourself will attract a certain number of dubious characters.

Now, however, social networking sites have begun to leverage the power of people with nothing–or at least nothing felonious–to hide. In other words, it’s now okay to tell your grandmother that you met your new boyfriend online or to tell your boss that you’re joining some online friends for a social dinner. This element of our culture and reality has changed. Online networking is the “new normal.”

Our ironic society has no problem understanding how living in a big city can be a lonely existence, and sites like Meetup, Grubwithus and Grouper now thrive in metropolises because even independent city folk want things like friends and significant others (go figure). These sites encourage users to meet not only in virtual reality but in real life–the part of life that requires one to get a hair cut and feed the dog. In fact, real-life interests like these provide perfect starting points for bringing people together.

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Online dating site Match.com has selected DKC as its AOR reports PRWeek. The firm will work on consumer and corporate PR, promote the company’s couple success stories, and provide other services. Sources say the account’s budget is around the upper-six figures.

The company considered four firms, not including previous AOR Fleishman-Hillard, according to Carrie Davis, VP of comms for Match.com and its brand Chemistry.com. F-H had been AOR for less than a year following MSLGroup.

Davis first worked with DKC at Yahoo, which selected the firm as B-to-B AOR in January. Davis joined Match.com in September.