Looking for love? Pin it to your chest

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Single? Shy? An Australian dating website  is offering wallflowers looking for love a subtle way to declare their intentions: identification badges.

The badges are the invention of IT professional and Yes I Am Single website (www.yis.com.au) founder Evan Diacopolous, who says it's a way to revive old-fashioned dating.

"It's a conversation starter, a prompt. It helps people who lack the confidence," he told Reuters of the small silver discs that bear the website's address.

"Many people now are into online dating, but once upon a time people looking for a partner actually talked to each other in person, rather than going online. This is going back to meeting people the old-fashioned way."

To get the badge, as well as gain access to the website's forums, members pay A$23 Australian ($16.5).

Diacopolous, who is single himself, started the website nearly a month ago after he and many of his friends became disillusioned by online dating.

"People spend a lot of money and send a lot of emails, there's a lot of expectations that aren't met and I thought there's got to be an easier way to meet people," he said.

So far, the site has 50 members and Diacopolous advised those looking of love to do so in "everyday settings".

"You can wear your badge at the supermarket, on the train to work or anywhere you go. You never know who you might meet," the 35-year-old said.