I’ve decided to bite the bullet and sign up with one of the online dating services for a couple of months.
[sub]What doesn’t kill me will make me stronger.[/sub]
So I’m looking for recommendations. I don’t want a sleezy site; I’m definitely not interested in a just-for-sex “dating” service. I’m looking for a site where others have had some success in finding long-term (1 year or more) relationships, and where they can weed out most of the psychos.
[sub]I don’t want people with restraining orders against them calling me at all hours of the night asking me what I’m wearing.[/sub]
I live in a large city, so Yahoo! and Match.com seem like decent sites, but are there other large sites I should consider? And are there sites that offer more for the money?
All suggestions are welcomed.
That’s exactly the right attitude to have toward online dating. It can be pretty rough out there. :eek:
The longest relationship I’ve had as the result of on-line dating was just 3 months, but I met him through OKCupid. However, if you’re not in your 20s anymore I don’t particularly recommend that site: it’s completely free, and the tests and questions are kind of fun, but there is a serious dearth of men in their 30s/40s (at least, in this area). Lots of young 'uns there.
I also have a profile on Match.com, but have never had any luck there so these days I’m not a paying member.
I used to recommend SpringStreet, but the company that took them over (FastCupid) completely sucks. Stay away from FastCupid.
Keep us posted – and good luck! 
FastCupid did initially gut SpringStreet. It sucked and an exodus ensued. But, it is getting back to being as good as it used to be. And since you are in a big city, there is no better place for meeting lots of smart single people. I’m assuming smart is one of your criteria, beings as you’re on the SDMB!
I used Yahoo! personals. I felt like I had to wade through A LOT of crappy ads (people who couldn’t spell, said stupid shit, and basically didn’t know how to present a good package) but there were some good listings. Be prepared to contact a lot of people and get no response from them (unless that was just me :() because I’d email about 10 guys and maybe get a response from 1. I also got contacted by people who clearly weren’t reading my profile - I said I don’t want kids and don’t want to date someone who had them, but got several emails from guys who had multiple children.
Despite all that, I am now living with the man I met through Yahoo! So I guess it worked out pretty well for me.
Interesting! The Onion Personals/SpringStreet used to be my favorite personals site. I’ll check it out again sometime soon. Thanks.
Maybe I’m here as someone whose ignorance needs to be fought! 