MATCHMAKING is a lot like Marmite.

Although whether you love it or hate it has probably got less to do with any predisposition and more to do with your experiences of it.

If you've been set up on the blind date from hell by a friend who told you they knew someone who you'd "really hit it off with", chances are you think your friends should keep their noses out of your personal life.

If, however, you've found romance via the grown up equivalent of the playground cry "my mate fancies you" then you probably think it's a good thing.

I fall into the second category. Several months ago, I received an e-mail from a friend telling me one of his mates had seen a picture of me and was interested in me. Or, to be more accurate, he said his friend was "getting all hot under the collar".

I told him to get the friend to e-mail me and, after a week or so of online chatting, we went out on a date.

Five months later, we're still seeing each other - so I've got no complaints.

It hasn't all been plain sailing on the matchmaking front, though.

I've had some unsuccessful attempts at setting my friends up. Recently, I've pointed a friend who lives in Bristol and is looking for love in the direction of an eligible bachelor from London. Obviously geography was a potential stumbling block, but things didn't even get that far because he started dating someone else. While I was pleased for him, I couldn't help being disappointed that I hadn't had a hand in the arrangement!

I think a critical factor in matchmaking is ensuring both parties actually want to meet someone. People in couples can often leap to the patronising conclusion that their single friends are to be pitied and that they must want to meet someone - anyone!

One of my friends was made to feel very uncomfortable when an old friend who was in a long-term relationship pressurised her to get together with a single man she knew and failed to understand that the fact that the only thing they had in common was that they were both single wasn't a good reason to embark on a relationship!

That said, there are plenty of success stories around.

My friend Jane has a friend to thank for several years of wedded bliss.

She says: "I was set up on a blind date by my friend, Emma. I was very dubious about the whole thing and worried for weeks that it would be a complete disaster. She also kept saying worrying things like: He used to be quite good-looking' and He's only got one cauliflower ear, and it's not that bad if you don't look too closely.' After weighing up the pros and cons, I decided to risk it. After all, at this stage I'd known Emma for about 20 years, and I figured she knew me well enough not to set me up with someone I'd hate on sight.

"The date itself was ok - she sat me next to the cauliflower ear, which was a tad off-putting - but we hit it off and he called me a few days later.

"We got married after six years, and have now been together for 14.

"I'm sure blind dates don't work for everyone, but if the person setting you up knows both you and your date well enough, it could be just what you're looking for."

Jane's friend took quite a gamble with the full-on dinner party blind-date scenario. I think I'd be too worried about my friends being horrified by each other on sight to make such a bold move.

That said, setting people up is made easier these days by the Internet, and networking site in particular. In my case, I was chatting with the chap in question via Facebook so I knew what he looked like, what some of his interests were and that he'd dressed up as George Michael for his 30th birthday party.

Faith was also pointed in the direction of her current boyfriend.

"My friend had been trying to sell him to me since we met at her party about four years ago," she says.

"When I split up with my ex at the end of last year she was on the e-mail immediately telling me I should meet up with my new bloke as he's always good to have around if you're a newly single girl'. It turns out she was right!"

However, my friend Dave thinks caution when matchmaking is definitely the way to go. He says: "Matchmaking two good friends is an easy way to lose one of them, especially if one of them is interested in the other but it's not reciprocated - you'll end up lying to spare feelings, and the spurned one will blame you. It's far better to invite a large group of people around, including the singles. If they are into each other, they won't need any more help from you - if they don't hit it off, acute embarrassment is saved all round."

And May has some cautionary words about matchmaking, too.

"I think there's is no harm in making two people aware of each other's existence but anything beyond that, in my book, is unwarranted meddling with the potential for causing problems and damaging good friendships.

"I have a friend who had some matchmaking done on her behalf. She was introduced to a guy, having previously been told lots of positive things about him. He, likewise, had been told lots of things which made her appear utterly desirable. Because they believed they had so much in common and had also been told that each was fancied by the other (also untrue) they began a relationship which would probably never have got off the ground otherwise. After a few weeks of strained dating, they both realised they had little in common and stopped seeing each other. Unfortunately as they both moved within the same social circle, future encounters were, for some time, uncomfortable to say the least."

Matchmaking can certainly be a great way for people to meet each other but the evidence suggests a subtle approach is best.

It seems matchmaking really is like Marmite - a little goes a long way.