Internet Dating sites: Your experiences and opinions (wife, girlfriend, women)

[Rapture]

Have you tried the internet? There are a bunch of single sites you can in your profile list if you are looking for a relationship, just casual dating or friends.

[hello-world]

the internet sites for the area are full of...guys, predominantly. and otherwise can have a very meat market or superficial feel. take a look and let me know what you see.

[Highpointer]

Originally Posted by Rapture

Have you tried the internet? There are a bunch of single sites you can in your profile list if you are looking for a relationship, just casual dating or friends.

I have tried the Internet (i.e. eHarmony and Match.com) but neither of those services have worked for me yet. Usually my inquiries have gone unanswered. The few dates I have had were with girls who had little in common with me.

[Rapture]

Originally Posted by Highpointer

I have tried the Internet (i.e. eHarmony and Match.com) but neither of those services have worked for me yet. Usually my inquiries have gone unanswered. The few dates I have had were with girls who had little in common with me.

I did matchmaker.com and yahoo singles which might now be match.com? I met a couple people I dated for awhile and my now SO for over three years. I'm sure different areas have more men than women and maybe vice versa. As far as Eharmony, I filled out one of their profiles and they sent me people that I had nothing in common and were not even in my age group. Make sure you use a site you have to pay for, any free site brings in people just fooling around, people looking to cheat on their spouse or people that want pen pals. If someone pays, usually their more serious about meeting someone for a relationship. You should have a picture up and be honest in your profile, otherwise you're wasting their time and yours. I'm assuming you write to people that in their profile you have things in common with? Most important.... be honest with yourself, if you are 40 and writing to 18 year olds, overweight and the person says they want someone physically fit, interested in the outdoors but they are more into art museums then it's probably not a match. Don't write to someone just because you think they are pretty....not saying you do that but I don't know? One more thing, women like confident men but not arrogance, so if you are coming across insecure or like a jerk than it's going to be harder to meet someone. Maybe write something funny to them, that usually breaks the ice and everyone likes funny.

[rgb123]

Thats good advice for the guys Rapture.

I'm a female and have done internet dating too. I wont go near the sites where you can just shop for a girls picture (I only use eharmony -- and mostly for that reason!!)

I can usually tell if a guy has read my whole profile, or if he is just looking at the picture. I can always tell if the guy is looking for a real relationship or if he is just....looking....

I have had both good and bad experiences with internet dating. I have met some really nice guys who would do better if they did a couple of things ....

1. try a little harder to look nice -- make sure your pants cover your socks type thing....and if your super skinny try weight lifting at least on occasion, or wear clothes that do not highlight the fact it looks like a good wind will blow you away. (women do care about appearance....not a ton, but your clothes and the way you make the best of what you have makes a huge difference!! we want to know you care about how you look on a date!)

2. DONT LIE if I show up for a date and see that a guy is really 5'6'' but he said he was 5'10'' I will be mad. This makes you a liar.

3. Keep your expectations in check....like Rapture said....if your 40 and overweight dont expect to find a 21 year old beauty queen who cant wait to meet you

4. Be up front....like the height thing. Present your true self as much as possible. Women will respect you for that. I turned down a guy who was disabled because he waited until the night before the date to tell me. That is something that should be in the profile. You dont have to pretend to be someone your not. just be yourself.

5. Since we are talking about location -- give a little. I have had guys in my own metra area say "I think the distance between us is too great" wha?? If you can't handle dating someone who could be your future wife -- because she lives more than 10 miles away from you -- your not ready to find your future wife.

[Twinkle Toes]

I've checked 'em out, but I don't like the mainstream dating sites. There are some that I've visited that are really cool, but they aint mainstream! LOL

[Mrs.Bewitched]

I never did then because when I was single...that wasn't the thing. I have been dating my husband since 1996.

BUT, if I was single, I think I might try it. I don't know. Honestly, finding guys to date was easy as pie...but they were never the right one. So I think after not finding the right one IRL, I might dip into the internet.

[Keeper]

I have used internet dating and like most here I have met some good and some bad. I have met more on Yahoo than other sites. I tell them up front, I won't expect you to look like Brad Pitt if you don't expect me to look like Angela Jolie.
I am no spring chicken and I have to wonder why anyone would send me an email when they are younger than my own children. They must be really desperate or looking for a sugar mamma which I am not..

[Ronzou]

I'm not big on Internet dating. It takes all the fun out of saying something and getting slapped, shot down, made fun of or other things.

[surveyorusa]

There is something unnatural about internet dating. In real life, most communication is non-verbal. Attraction is based on body language, tone of voice, your laugh, the way you tell a joke, how you sound when you talk about your parents or your dog. Almost none of this comes through in a written communication. It could take you weeks or months, if ever, to figure out if you are attracted to someone or have common basic values based on online communications. Yet you can probably figure out in 30 seconds of face to face meeting whether you would really want to date this person.

I have tried internet dating many times (limited success - met my last girlfriend that way, but that was ages ago). It's hit and miss, mostly miss. Most of the women I've met have been nice and normal, but there was no spark of attraction either for me or for them or both. It is a good screening mechanism to try to weed out the people you know you would never want to date (smokers/non-smokers, people of a certain religious faith or those who lack it, etc.). But without attraction, there is no hope of a successful relationship, and you do not find that out until you meet.

My philosophy of internet dating is to meet as quickly as possible, once we've both established that there is some mutual interest and that the other person at least isn't a psycho. Meet for coffee or something casual, not a dinner or something formal. You want to meet face to see if there is any attraction and if so, it's easy to continue online or over the phone to get to know each other and keep meeting, since you know you are both attracted to each other. I certainly do not want to spend weeks emailing someone back and forth only to learn in the first 30 seconds that I am not attracted to her or she not to me. (Pictures can tell you only so much.)