Gust Hubb, on 28 July 2016 - 12:18 PM, said:
Dating websites. I have been toying with several, not dropping any subscription fees since money and me are not well acquainted, and sending messages/likes/etc.
Is this really how you meet people? I swear I have met more prospective interests at work than on these sites where no one responds more than once and the profiles all start to look the same. It's fucking depressing.
I agree with HiddenOne, take some time to just get your head straight and be single a while.
But when you ARE ready, online is a fine place to meet someone (Having met my wife on LavaLife 8 years ago)....but there are some caveats that go along with it. Starting with "do not use Tinder". Pick a reputable site for "dating" not hookups.
- It will teach you what you THINK you want, isn't what you want. Probably the best thing I learned from my time in online dating is that all the stuff I thought I wanted, put in my profile as wanting, and then met women who met those things...were not what I wanted at all. It wasn't till I was a little more aimless and a little more honest with myself that I found people who were right for me.
- You will have to wade through an INORDINATE amount of people you will say no to before finding one worthwhile of even meeting in person. Like any other situation with masses of people, there is a lot of chaff out there (most of which you can pick out while instant messaging, or emailing ect.) and the diamonds are indeed in the rough. Don't worry about casting a lot of nets in seeking someone who matches up with you.
- My experience was that women rarely message the men on sites where you have to pay. This is just a natural fact confirmed by both myself, my wife, my sister-in-law and even a few friends. None of the girls I know ever paid (mostly because they were all bombarded with guy messages enough to never feel the need to bother). It's almost always guys buying in. I think the only one who paid was a friend who was on eHarmony (where everyone pays). For Lava, you bought credits, and a couple of credits allowed you to start messaging someone (once you started, it didn't cost anymore mind you...just the one time per person). Not sure if it still is that way on that site...but what I would do was buy a batch of credits, and scroll through profiles and smile (free!) at the ones I liked, and if they smiled back I'd send a message. So you won't be able to expect to be messaged en masse if you're not putting some cash in, and it will be worth it to spend some cash towards it. EDIT: This isn't to say that women didn't pay to message, I just found the opposite was mostly true with me, and with anyone I spoke with who also used lava (it could also be different now compared with 8 - 10 years go).
So in the end it's well worth it, but it's not a perfect system, and you DO have to work to find someone who is compatible. But in this day and age, it's become pretty ubiquitous with meeting singles. Back when I did it, it was still kinda taboo ("Ohhhh, you met them online? Weird."). But in lieu of a gathering place with many people (that's not a bar or pickup joint), it works.
This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 28 July 2016 - 01:04 PM
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon