Online Dating

[TinkGirl09]

Has anyone ever used any of the online dating sites? If so, what's your experience and which ones?? It's hard for me to meet anyone in my day to day world and I was thinking of giving it a try.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

My cousin did. Lets just say I couldnt believe the "winners" she found. Hmm, one worked part time in the Wal Mart automotive. Just finacially I think she would of had to support him etc.

One was a scientist who she said was nice but boring.

One quit his job in Colorado, moved in with her and got a job being a car salesman. 2 weeks later moved out because he told my cousin he was not used to "alot of noise". She had 2 younger kids at the time. We all told her she was nuts to let him move in with her when she had a young daughter.

She has given up on that for now I think.

The one success story was one of our ds teachers. She went on some christian site. She is now happily married and has 2 step children who adore her etc.

Best of luck to you.

 

[IdesOmarch]

Yes I dabbled with these just for fun years ago. I stopped after about 2 months for a couple of reasons. 1, alot of the sites I discovered use fake profiles. It didn't take long to figure this out. But the people that put up the sites will take pics of beautiful model types and put fake profiles up. They use automatic email response so if you contact one of the fake ones, youll get an auto reply like something generic like "hey nice profile."

There are a few reputable ones, Match.com is probably OK, but it wouldn't surprise me if all of these sites had a certain number of fake profiles on them. I never tried eharmony, but it sounds like they maybe OK. Just remember with these, if they look too good to be true they probably are.

As a female you may have better luck, because there tend to be a lot more men on these sites than quality women, so you'll have that advantage.

Also there are probably a fair number of whackos on those sites so be careful.

I did find a handful of girls that I almost made dates with, but blew it off because I ended up hooking up with my current SO shortly afterwards. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[Crankyshank]

Oh sure. I've been on Match, OK Cupid, and Eharmony. I thought Eharmony was terrible, match was decent, and met the most interesting and datable people on Ok Cupid.

Every site has its winners and losers. It's important to be safe, and not give up easily. My DBF "found" me on Match and we've been dating for 3 months now. So far he's a keeper

. And I'm sure it differs based on location, but for southern New England there are far more women on the site than men.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Yes I dabbled with these just for fun years ago. I stopped after about 2 months for a couple of reasons. 1, alot of the sites I discovered use fake profiles. It didn't take long to figure this out. But the people that put up the sites will take pics of beautiful model types and put fake profiles up. They use automatic email response so if you contact one of the fake ones, youll get an auto reply like something generic like "hey nice profile."

There are a few reputable ones, Match.com is probably OK, but it wouldn't surprise me if all of these sites had a certain number of fake profiles on them. I never tried eharmony, but it sounds like they maybe OK. Just remember with these, if they look too good to be true they probably are.

As a female you may have better luck, because there tend to be a lot more men on these sites than quality women, so you'll have that advantage.

Also there are probably a fair number of whackos on those sites so be careful.

I did find a handful of girls that I almost made dates with, but blew it off because I ended up hooking up with my current SO shortly afterwards. Good luck and stay safe.

There may be a LOT more men but I don't know about QUALITY men!

Years ago I tried Match and eHarmony and Chemistry and a few I can't remember the names of. Most men on those sites, as in real life, are just looking for booty. Now you don't have to go to a bar/club to feel like you're in a meat market - you can get that feeling right in your very own living room!

 

[disneyfanforever]

My sisters dated a guy she met on eHarmony for about three months. After they broke up, she tried match.com and has met a nice guy that she has been dating for about 5 months. It seems to have worked out pretty well for her. However, some of the profiles she has shown me made me realize there are some real winners out there as well that you have to wade through. Good luck.

 

[Tuffcookie]

I tried match.com. After meeting a bunch of losers, I'm cured. I got a new poodle puppy!

TC

 

[Kathi OD]

I haven't personally used any of those sites, but I can say that my DS found his gf on one of them. They've been together for about 9 years and have 3 beautiful children.

 

[java]

My Dad met his girlfriend on Eharmony(they've been together for about 6 months now.

My sister in her late 20's has used them all. Match,E and worst of all Lotsoffish- the free dating site!

 

[BeenHereB4]

Married for almost two years to my Match.com match. Well, it took a few to get through to him but none of them were that bad. There was just a lack of chemistry with the maybe three others. Oh, and this was all during a one week free trial, so he was free! It was a busy week.

FTR, I was a single mom and dated him for a year before he even came to my home while the kids were there.

 

[BeenHereB4]

Oh, but watch for the ones that just seem to want to be email or phone buddies. I swear those are the ones with wives and/or girlfriends. Talk on the phone for a few minutes, set a quick date for coffee and danish or something then move on from there. This way if you don't like him, you're only out a half hour or so and not an entire dinner, etc.

My trick was always to say I only had an hour because of a babysitter or something. If it was going well, I'd excuse myself to call the "babysitter" to ask if she could stay longer.

 

[Jeafl]

I've never used them because I am happily married, but I know of 3 married, very happy couples who all met on match.com. I guess it does work for some people.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I went on eHarmony in the summer of 2008.

See the results below...

 

[TinkGirl09]

Thanks for all the responses! I don't expect miracles, just figured I really have no other place to meet single men. Wish me luck!!!

 

[DisneyScraps]

I have a lot of experience with on line dating. It worked really well for me. I live in a really small town and i didn't think I would have a lot of luck finding someone here. I used match.com and chemistry.com

I disliked chemistry.com because they didn't have a lot of members. I ran out of choices after a few weeks. Having said that I did have one match up on that site and we were perfectly matched. The first date was unbelievable how alike we were morally, politically and in a lot of other ways. We dated for months and he was exactly what I was looking for. I am not sure if that was a fluke or if the sites like that which match you on compatibility really do work. I never got a chance to try that out again because I met someone on my own and we have been dating for several years.

match.com worked great for me. I met several really nice men that I dated for months. I was very careful and there was some screening involved. When I say careful I mean I had to see a picture and it's important to ask WHEN the picture was taken. Too many people use really out dated pictures. I got a lot of information about them, where they were from, if they had been married before, how many kids, where they live etc etc.

I found some very successful moral well grounded men.

Anyone that seemed too goo to be true was usually just that. I was contacted a few times from scam artists, one was a retired really handsome man around my age, he did charity work in his free time etc, etc. Turned out he was out of the country and could not call me. Anyone that was in a different state I felt was a scam. Why would I want to talk to someone on the west coast when I live in the east coast?

The ones that I did meet were all what they said they were. Some worked out, some never went past the first date.

There are also some that just want to play and email back and forth and never meet. I didn't put up with that for long.

I would also be leery of the free sites. I have a few friends that have tried them and I always though that if someone was willing to invest 30.00 a month to meet someone then he probably wasn't for me.

I would say be careful and give it a shot. Get some good pictures of yourself, write a nice profile and see what happens.


Lisa

 

[MickeySP]

I refused to pay for a site so I did Plenty of Fish.

Yes, there are plenty of whackos out there but you don't need the internet to meet them. I met plenty just going out socially.

I met alot of nice guys, just not MY guy for about 3 months, then
He wasn't the guy I usually went for but after just a couple hours together, I kinda knew he was abit special(for me).

So 2 years 7 months later we are still going strong.

I would say be honest, open to people, and know what you want. Most of the people I know who ran into trouble didn't really know what they wanted from a mate.

 

[tasha99]

I had some success with OKCupid, a free site. Dated two guys from there, though the first was a disaster. After a day or so of emailing, we decided to meet at a local restaurant for a glass of wine. His wife dropped him off with me. That's where I learned the difference between "single" and "available."

The second guy I dated for 9 months. He is a wonderful person with some issues that unfortunately I can't put up with because I'm responsible for a child. We were great when it was just the two of us, but after dating 6 months or so, I tried to include my teen. That did not even remotely work, and it wasn't my kid who was the issue. My son was hesitant, but willing to give the relationship a chance. My boyfriend saw snottiness where there was just shyness and hesitance.

I guess in the future, I will look on a guy having his own kids as a plus, because someone who makes it to his 40s/50s without kids, probably isn't going to be very good with them. For now, being at least a little good with a teen is a deal breaker. It wasn't a total failure though--we had some really good times and made several trips together that I would never have thought to take on my own. I'm glad we dated, but I'm glad we both moved on, too.

Not sure where people are finding Walmart workers online. Both the guys I met and several others that I've IMed and emailed with were computer programmers or network administrators. Maybe that's who I match up with, or maybe guys who work on computers use that medium for socializing as well.

Edited to add that I don't think there's anything wrong with working at Walmart. Just if you're looking for a guy who's a professional as some previous posters implied, they do seem to be there.

 

[jsmith]

Be exceedinly careful of anyone on a Dating site-particularly a free one-who claims to be a United States Service member. While there are some out there there is a very large ring of Nigerian scammers who pose and US and British service members for the purpose of defrauding women of money. Should you start email or Im converstations with a "soldier" who then asks you to 1) purchase a satellite telephone system thru a company he recommends or the Afghani embassy, 2) tells you you must fill out forms and request money for him to take leave or 3) asks for assistance claiming and inheritance or askes you to conduct business affairs for him-its a scam. their is no such satellite phone company, soldier must request their own leave and the army pays for their travel and they have legal assistance available to them in Theater. These guys are good and very convincing-known for using pics they find on on line profiles or socail networking pages -sometimes even of soldiers killed in action. I have seen one where the individual was using an official photo of the senior enlisted member of the US army-with the name and rank showing.

 

[sajetto]

I tried Yahoo personals and Match.com. My prince charming and I had our Disney Wedding 4 years ago and now have a 20 month old daughter. It was a great experience and I would tell anyone to try it (especially people like me who work constantly and don't have time for the dating scene)

 

[njmom47]

Back before the Internet, almost 17 years ago, I met my dh through the personals in the newspaper. One ds and 14 1/2 years of marriage later(dds are from a previous marriage), here we are!