Online dating can work very well (it has worked for me) but be patient. It will take time until you really get it. Practice, practice, practice. Don't give up if you have no luck right away. There are subtle communication aspects that you can learn as you go, and they make all the difference.

And keep away from specialized dating sites. Go with Facebook or any other kind of communication platform that are not invented exclusively for dating. People are just much more natural there. With some practise you can fairly easy figure out if there's a date potential just by looking at a profile.