Have you ever tried online dating?

[BLCalliente]

If okcupid is free then surely the others would be better? What made you pick that one out of interest? (guessing it's because it was free lol).

My thinking was that people who would pay for online dating must be really desperate. It was a pretty immature evaluation. In hindsight, I think the amount of desperate women on pay sites is balanced by the amount of women who are actually serious about finding a relationship.

I chose OKCupid because a friend of mine mentioned that it wasn't a slimy hookup site like Plenty of Fish.

[Deleted]

It's funny because all I got was girls interested in one night stands and MILF's.
The fact that I specifically pointed out in my profile that I like to take things slow and that i'm a christian didn't matter at all. I'm not sure how the filters worked on that site but they did everything except match me with a decent woman.

[Chunkyman]

It's funny because all I got was girls interested in one night stands and MILF's.
The fact that I specifically pointed out in my profile that I like to take things slow and that i'm a christian didn't matter at all. I'm not sure how the filters worked on that site but they did everything except match me with a decent woman.

That's the kind of thing I'm wondering about and also dreading, not sure how the filters work or how they match you with someone.

[Captain N]

Online Dating is pretty fantastic - I met my wife on PlentyofFish (The only Online Dating Site I will vouch for). You just have to be patient and choose carefully who you exchange messages with. My wife said that the biggest thing she liked about my messages is that I knew the difference between there, their, and they're.

[The Stormbringer]

When I was fifteen I did. We were actually pretty close. Phoned each other, chatted a lot, sent each other letters and pictures. In the end I broke it off with her because she was going through a rough time and just supporting someone over the phone isn't the real comfort they need. That, and I think it hurt a lot to hear her so sad and be unable to do anything about it.

[NutellaCrepe]

Had signed up on OKC when a friend signed up too. The first girl I met tried to get me in a pyramid scheme. I'm in a 2yr relationship with the second girl I met! Beautiful, smart, trustworthy ect.

[endersblade]

I had a profile on OKCupid once. I'd get messages from chain smokers with three kids, or girls that looked like jabba the hutt. Usually also considered themselves 'goth' or 'emo'. Bleh, no thanks. I will not date a smoker, I don't want someone else's kids, and if you're bigger than I am, that's just scary.

I have a friend that tried it as well, and after two absolute crazies, he gave up. It's just not for everybody.

[Chunkyman]

I had a profile on OKCupid once. I'd get messages from chain smokers with three kids, or girls that looked like jabba the hutt. Usually also considered themselves 'goth' or 'emo'. Bleh, no thanks. I will not date a smoker, I don't want someone else's kids, and if you're bigger than I am, that's just scary.

I have a friend that tried it as well, and after two absolute crazies, he gave up. It's just not for everybody.

Actually loled at this one. Anyway, think I'll give it a try and go on match.com. Not sure what I'm expecting but it's better than not trying, here's to hoping.

[Soxoffender]

Online Dating is pretty fantastic - I met my wife on PlentyofFish (The only Online Dating Site I will vouch for). You just have to be patient and choose carefully who you exchange messages with. My wife said that the biggest thing she liked about my messages is that I knew the difference between there, their, and they're.

Surprised to read two encouraging stories about POF. My experience of that was 'Plenty Of Fornication', which was fine with me but not exactly what I'd set out to find. Pleased to hear different though.

[JohnBrown1917]

No, I never had a date in my life.

[Vermicious]

Me: Gay male, 50+, not bad looking, slightly overweight

Have profiles on legit sites like OKCupid, PlentyOfFish (which, in this area, is more like "all the fish are dead"... not really that many locals).. Most messages are from guys too far away, guys looking for a quick shag, guys with no profile/pic, or str8 guys who are 'curious', or much younger guys looking for a sugar daddy. Most of my messages to guys I like (near my age, area, similar interests, etc.) are ignored.

I have more luck meeting guys on the phone apps, which are definitely NOT dating oriented.

Definitely a needle in a gaystack situation.

[zEmini]

Been on a lot of dates through online dating. Currently dating one for almost two years now. Just spent over 9k on some stupid rock for her. Game over man.

[Tziva]

I had one serious relationship that began with someone I originally met online. It wasn't through a dating site, but I don't see anything wrong with using those. Lots and lots and lots of people do. One of my good friends found his wife through one of the popular ones.

[NuLogic]

Ladies!.....well I tried.

[Deleted]

It was called IRC back in my day. And yes. Plenty, quite fruitfully.

[ItachiZaku]

I signed up for RussianCupid and was quickly given a free communication weekend. I got like 12 emails, every one sent a 4-6 paragraph email with 3-6 pictures, I would reply and I'd get another email with 4-6 paragraph email with 3-6 pictures.

1 of them was actually "cute", as in all of them were gorgeous but seemed fake, but one seemed like she could possibly be a real person. I asked her for a picture of her holding up todays newspaper, never heard from here again.

Meanwhile....

One of the others was "aggressive" and "oh i love you" and even had her "mom" email me (from same account) to give our "approval" and then the girl was like "oh I come see you!" and then "oh, i have visa issue, can you send some money?" and when I said No, EVERY other email chain ended. lol lol

[Toraak]

I met my current partner through PoF. I think that different people will have different experiences based on demographics, but for me it was a case of doing searches with criteria filters that I set up, and messaging those that I was interested in. Worked for me.

Some friendly advice you can take or leave: I would not recommend spamming the same short message to every woman you find remotely attractive - I think that women get a ton of this spam (of the "hey baby" variety) and will likely ignore it. If you see someone that you are genuinely interested in, take the time to write a real message that shows you have read her profile. Talk about your common interests rather than telling her she is cute/has nice eyes/whatever (assuming there are pictures.) If she has pictures she will know you are attracted to her - otherwise you would not have messaged.

[Pony Soldier]

So far I'm having a pretty bad experience with online dating sites. I use OKCupid since it's free to use and I sent a message to about 3 or 4 girls so far and none of them responded or even visited my profile (the site I'm on notifies you when someone looks at your profile). I don't if it's just because they're not interested in me or if I said something that sounded too weird or what but I've been on here for quite a while and I have not struck one conversation with a decent girl yet. I'm not really that serious about online dating I only made this profile as an experiment, to see what kind of attention I get and to just try things out. Whenever I decide to get serious I'll probably use eHarmony or Match.com. You have to pay for those but I heard if you want quality results you should use a paid dating site. I hear free ones aren't that great since a lot fakers and trolls use it. I figure I'll just keep using this one and see if I get lucky and a decently attractive girl messages me. If not, oh well. Like I said I'm not that serious right now but if the opportunity comes up, and the girl looks decent enough to date, I'll take it.

- - - Updated - - -

I had a profile on OKCupid once. I'd get messages from chain smokers with three kids, or girls that looked like jabba the hutt. Usually also considered themselves 'goth' or 'emo'. Bleh, no thanks. I will not date a smoker, I don't want someone else's kids, and if you're bigger than I am, that's just scary.

I have a friend that tried it as well, and after two absolute crazies, he gave up. It's just not for everybody.

Yeah see this is pretty much the luck I am having with OKCupid. I hardly ever get girls that visit my profile and when I do (not to sound mean) I get these girls that are like 300 pounds and look like Shrek's wife. I mean I can't be THAT bad looking can I? I consider myself to be a pretty average looking guy.

[Tommy T]

Any guy not getting laid and is unhappy about it should give online dating a shot.

Ridiculously easy.

The key is to initiate conversation, and ask for their number as soon as you can. Don't spend days e-mailing. Call her, let her hear your voice and you're instantly ahead of most of the 'nice guys'.