Speaking as someone who does date multiple people at one time, I think it's a fine idea. Some people do it to seek a family of sorts to share their life with, others like it to augment a relationship with a primary partner, and still others do it just to have a little fun. Whatever the reason, dating multiple people is a completely okay type of relationship style to have; it's simply different, and less common, than traditional monogamy.

I am involved in what is known as a triad, a Female-Male-Female triad. In this group of three people, everyone is involved with everyone else. In addition, we have it set up that we can see other people on the side as long as they are approved by our partners, primarily by the male in our relationship, since he heads it. For us communication is of utmost importance. It is in any relationship, but it becomes doubly so once there are multiple people involved. This means that everyone needs to be on the same page. If you aren't exclusive with someone, it's best to tell them upfront that you aren't exclusive with them to avoid confusion and hurt feelings down the road.

In my experience, poly relationships are truly an amazing thing. They have a sense of community, of family, that is stronger than that of a typical dyad relationship. There are more people to rely on, more people to trust and share intimacy with, and more people just to have fun with. But be warned, poly relationships can come with a lot more burdens, too. It's difficult to balance everyone's wants and needs in the relationship, and there will be times you will get hurt and disappointed because yours don't get met first. There can also be more jealousy and envy in poly relationships, which can be hard to deal with.

While poly relationships are different, they're a lot like monogamous relationships, too. Both face the challenges of daily life and both have their respective issues. A lot of people can be weirded out by the idea of polyamory, but when all is said and done it's just a different style of relationships.