I'm not shy or unfit and fairly decent at talking to girls anywhere. My not so vast experience with online dating has shown that women tend to behave more picky online than IRL.
First there's a ton of more guys, so they're constantly sifting thru guys trying to impress them in their inbox.
Most of these girls state all they want is a "nice funny guy". No shit sweetheart.
The guys typically browse these sites for an hour or so, perusing the photos and reading the profiles of girls they find attractive in photos. No denying a lot of these guys are unrealistic in their expectations.
What I did find, is that the average girls, tend to behave like they're quite hot, perhaps it's their first taste of this much attention and the ability to comfortably ignore a man's intentions. I find it hard to believe they would behave the same if a guy said the exact same thing approaching them in a bar, library.. anyplace.
Assuming the guy actually goes up and talks to the girl IRL. Most of my friends just gawk and comment to each other about a new girl they find attractive instead of going and telling her.
I prefer the unpretentiousness of meeting in real life. Perhaps there are nice girls out there online, I don't have the energy to craft a witty opener for the 20 girls I see online or the audacity to send them the same message.
I rather have an honest profile up and keep my energies focused on socializing IRL and meeting single girls there. It makes the process easier on my time and heart.