I recently became single, and thus, very disenchanted with my dating prospects. I work third shift, and I don’t go to bars (don’t drink). I realized this doesn’t leave much opportunity to meet the man of my dreams, so I decided to take action. Either that or the all the commercials for EHarmony finally broke me down. I want to meet my soulmate too! And put it on my credit card!
I’ve done the whole internet dating thing before, but nothing this in-depth. I was very skeptical at first, the guys I’ve met online before were either creeps, or socially inept (ex-husband included, haha). But I said “what the heck” and put up a profile and a picture. I wasn’t excpeting to see anybody that REALLY interested me, but there are some pretty neat fellas that EHarmony deems compatible with myself. I will admit that I am even a little excited to really start talking to a few of these fellas. Right now I am in the drawn out “guided communication” stage. One guy inparticular makes my heart go a-flutter when I get a communication from him.
Ok, so am I crazy to think I can meet a great man online? I need encouragement from others who have had good luck. Oh, and tell me your horror stories too, those are always good for a laugh
Internet dating sites can and do work. My brother met his wife from an online dating site (one of the pay ones as I recall). They have been married 2 years and have a 1 yr old.
Met my wife on match. Married for five years, two incredible daughters. I’m assuming you’re a 24-year old female? You’ll have your share of horror stories, but it’ll be about some of the idiots you meet or who write you. There will be a lot. For guys, their horror stories are usually about how hard it is to even get a response from females, much less get a date.
Oooo thanks for the encouragement! Already weeding out the creepos. I’ve noticed something: the guys that are most out of shape expect a mate to be physically perfect. And what is with the guys who are ultra-focused on sex… on an internet dating site? shudder
That being said, getting alot of responses from perfectly nice gentleman. Will keep you all posted!
Yes, the option to select a mate’s body type up front seems to bring out the worst in some people. Think of it as a built in shallow-o-meter.
Just wait until you find the guy who’s ultra-focused on both sex and snakes.
My husband of four months and I met on Match. I tried Eharmony first and got absolutely nowhere - it seemed to be vastly inflating the importance of my gym attendance and thereby matching me with jocks. Since I’m a total couch potato when not at the gym, that just led to a lot of disappointment all around. That said, I’ve heard numerous second- and third-hand success stories for them, so my experience may have been unusual.
I actually found speed-dating promising. I had a date out of that and one out of Match before my husband found me on Match. I also had dozens of guys on Match that sounded really good until we started writing each other. The sensation of dawning revulsion became a familiar one. But better to feel that from the remove of the internet than from the next bar stool over, right?
There are good ones out there, though, and meeting them is every bit the pleasure it should be. Best of luck!
Since eHarmony is a pay site, you will likely be spared many of the complete goobers and scammers who infest the free sites. Every time I tried eHarmony, it couldn’t match me with anyone. sniffle It’s the price of being a weirdo, I guess. I did meet a very sweet fellow on a free site (after amassing a collection of crazy messages from others) and we’ve been dating for four months now. Good luck!
Good luck with it! Just have fun and enjoy it. Worst that can happen is a couple of lousy dates, in which case you’ll at least get some great stories to tell. (Well, worse things could happen, but I’m sure you’re not stupid enough to need an internet safety talk…)
I met my husband through ICQ of all things, which is about as dodgy as you can get! I wasn’t looking for someone to love, I was just messing around. He moved from the US to England to be with me and we’ve been married just over two and a half years, blissfully happy. So they’re not all creeps!
Success story – This was not internet dating but personals that you find in the paper. (Are those going the way of the dodo?) I met someone that I spent 7.5 years with.
But that’s not really a good story.
A couple of years ago I tried OKCupid and met someone who I thought was nice. When we went out, she struck me as a little… off. Never bothered with her again. Fast forward a couple of years. I was meeting some fellow Dopers to get a burger at a very popular place. The wait was something like 45 minutes in a line that stretched out the door and down the street. There was a party of three right in front of us, and the youngest woman in it was clearly the alpha diner. She turned around to us and said “Are you in line? DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” She came off as a leeeeettle crazy. And the whole night she kept giving me odd looks. Then it dawned on me. It was the off woman from that weird date.
I know what you mean! I’m in recovery from drugs and alcohol (different story for different thread). I plan to be upfront with this within the first date or two, but left it of my profile. Instead I put that I don’t drink, and will not date someone who drinks more than a few times a year. So this doofus asks me if it is cool with me that he smokes pot several times a week. Seriously? You have to ask??
Still keeping my eye on one guy inparticular, but hearing from a bunch of possibles.
So I think EHarmony is starting to blow my mind. There were a few matches today that got my attention big-time. These guys have ALOT of my values and intrests, and handsome to boot!
Match.com changed my life. Awesome, when used properly and honestly. I was on there for about seven months, and had a lot of nice dates, and saw a few people over periods of time. Then, in December of 2008, I connected with someone who couldn’t possibly be any more perfect for me.
You meet and screen through more people than you could ever do otherwise.
For sheer hilarity, you should check out Why Women Hate Men. Awesome blog where a guy absolutely shreds jerks who post hideous online personal ads. Cracks me right the hell up.
There’s a short video I saw at a film festival once that I thought was wonderful. It’s called “Full Disclosure” and is about a guy who decides,… well, just watch it. It’s very well done. I found it online at iTunes a while ago, but it might be at other video sites by now.
